Sony discussing home theatrical release plan (BW)
By Nancy Tartaglione
Sony has quietly been visiting with other film companies to sound them out about showing their movies on TV after they appear in movie theaters, but before they can be seen on DVD or online, BusinessWeek reports.
If the scheme takes flight, it would create a new market for studios which have been facing a decline in DVD sales and an uncertain box office.
No studio has yet signed on, and no price has yet been determined, says BW.
However, under one scenario, owners of Sony's Internet-connected Bravia TV could pay as much as $40 to watch a movie that would be streamed over the Internet to their set.
The concept is similar to one that Sony tested last fall, when it made "Hancock" available to Bravia owners with an online connection for their TV sets for $9.99 in a 24-hour viewing period that ran over two-weeks — after the film's July 2 release in movie theaters, but two weeks before its DVD release.
Sony is understood to be playing up the fact that Bravia is a so-called closed system, which means content streamed on the sets can't be pirated. Industry experts have speculated for years that there is a market of people who would pay a fairly steep price to see movies at home before they're available on DVD.
"The fact that this $40 pay-per-view model has worked for major sporting events suggests that there may be an opportunity for a handful of films every year—event films and franchises with the same young male demo as sports would be good bets," Tom Adams, of Adams Media Research, told BW.
He said it's unclear how this might harm theater owners since they "move pictures off screens so quickly now."
The controversial proposition of a home-theatrical window has led Sony to tread cautiously - it still calls its talks an effort to expand the "Hancock" experiment, according to those who have been involved in the discussions.
Although the notion of a home-theatrical window has been talked about in Hollywood for years, it has made little headway thanks to of an exhibitor/ DVD retailer backlash.
The difference today, says BW, is the increasingly difficult economics of the industry.
Still, the Sony concept has a certain logic to it, the report said. With several electronics companies already selling Internet-enabled TV sets, there is an expanding base of potential customers.
Under one scenario Sony is said to be circulating, it would share as much as 70% of the rental price of $30 to $40 with the studio for a film that would be available 30 to 60 days after the film's theatrical release.
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