Warner puts Observe, Ghosts on VOD before DVD
DIGITAL: Studio will delay VOD for Harry Potter a week after disc debut
By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 9/28/2009
SEPT. 28 | DIGITAL: Check off another video-on-demand first for Warner Home Video.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be available on VOD one week after its Dec. 8 DVD debut.
Days before the studio debuted September releases Observe and Report and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past on DVD, the studio quietly premiered them on VOD through Comcast in the Atlanta area.
It’s the first test by a major studio in releasing a film on VOD before DVD and is another first for Warner, which in 2007 began releasing films on DVD and VOD simultaneously. Both moves are attempts to boost revenue on VOD (for which the studio gets a bigger cut of rental revenue than with DVD) without hurting DVD sales, which are already in decline as the format matures.
In the Atlanta test, the studio promoted the releases to customers, by saying, “Watch on video-on-demand now and buy it Tuesday” on disc, WHV spokesman Jim Noonan said.
Both films debuted on VOD the Thursday before their Tuesday DVD release.
Independent studios Magnolia Entertainment and IFC Films have been releasing many of their films on VOD before DVD and sometimes before theatrical for the last few years, creating a significant new revenue stream as a result. However, their business model is different from major studios, which are far more dependent on theatrical and DVD revenue.
Even as Warner pushes VOD forward with Observe and Report and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, DVD revenue is clearly still the studio’s main concern.
Warner will delay Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on VOD until Dec. 15, one week after its Dec. 8 DVD debut. Noonan said the film “will be held back a week [on VOD] in an effort to further enhance the extraordinary sell-through possibility” of the DVD, calling Potter a unique property.
He stressed the delay wasn’t being done out of fear of hurting potential Potter disc sales, but rather in an attempt to drive even bigger sales.
The studio will do the same for The Hangover, debuting it on demand on Dec. 22, a week after its Dec. 15 DVD release.
The studio hasn’t announced other VOD release dates for big fourth-quarter titles yet and wouldn’t say whether their VOD release would also follow the DVD. Nearly all of Warner’s titles this year have debuted on DVD and VOD simultaneously.
The move is a slight departure from last year, when Warner debuted The Dark Knight on VOD two weeks after the DVD release.
