DVD Fans Will Wait Longer

[The Butcher]

DVD fans wait a little longer as Theatrical-to-DVD windows get wider.

Source: Vaviety.com, June 16, 2009

Theatrical-to-DVD windows for the first half of 2009 are more than two weeks longer than they were early last year, a phenomenon industry execs are attributing to this year's late Easter and the unusually strong box office business. For all theatrical titles released on or announced for DVD since January, the average window is 144 days, according to Rentrak research. That compares with 125 days for the same frame last year and 133 for full year 2008. Full Article! (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118004849.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2573)

[T-1000]

This is interesting. I figure it would be the other way around

[Bulin]

Interesting, I thought the window was narrowing....

[Moundshroud]

I wouldn't be surprised if the window to DVD release (and digital download) has essentially reached its plateau and will just fluctuate slightly from year to year. They really can't narrow the window much more without having the DVD sales eat into the last weeks of the theatrical release.

It's really interesting how much the movie and home video business has changed. Back in the early 80s, it wasn't unusual for hit movies to remain in the theaters for months at a time (I recall Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark in second-run theaters well over a year after their releases). After a couple years, they'd show up on pay-cable, eventually as video rentals, and finally they'd be released to home video at a sell-through price. The rental copies were available for sale, but usually at an absurdly high retail price in the ballpark of $90 per tape. Now with the threat of easy digital replication and instant worldwide distribution, the studios wouldn't dare stretch out the home video release the way they used to.

[GIGANTOR_]

It's odd ,I rember having to wait almost a yer for a movie to come out,Now the DVD is released while the movie is still playing theaters