Rich Fiscus
7 Nov 2011 13:07
Blockbuster Express is rolling out new pricing for their disc rental kiosks, hiking prices from $1 to $2 for so-called "Hot Movies."
Hot Movies are major releases which have been out for between 29 and 90 days. The price for keeping a disc longer than 24 hours will remain at $1.
In addition, a program which has been in testing in a few markets, offering new releases on the same date they are released for sale, is expanding to all locations. New releases rent for $3 with an additional $1 per day after the first.
Under the new pricing scheme, which they are calling the 3-2-1 Plan, all prices will return to the flat $1 per night after 90 days.
It is understandable why Blockbuster Express would want to differentiate themselves from other rental outlets by offering new releases right away. But it's questionable how much much of an advantage that will be at such a high price.
In any case, it's unlikely to do anything to meet the studios' stated goal of selling more discs, which is the reasoning behind the ridiculous rental windows in the first place.
People aren't buying fewer discs because they can rent them at the same time. The record sales from a few years ago were due to a perfect storm of new technology (DVD) and increased availability.
Those aren't conditions you can reproduce at will. It is time for the studios to move on to the what consumers want to spend their money on now instead of continuing to live in the past.