Would you pay $30 to see a movie at home?

[Tobe_Romero]

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Comcast Corp., the biggest U.S. cable operator, has held talks with Hollywood studios to show movies on cable on the same day as they open in theaters, the company said on Monday as rivals also outlined plans for more premium content on television.

Comcast Chief Operating Officer Stephen Burke told a trade show that subscribers could be charged $30 to $50 to watch an opening-day movie at home, narrowing the "window" between big screen and small screen debuts to nothing.

Theater owners have staunchly resisted any effort to cut the time between theatrical and DVD releases for fear that attendance would drop, while movie companies which get most of their profit from DVDs want a narrower window that would bring earnings forward and reduce the need for a second advertising campaign when a film is ready for home viewing.

Most 'windows' discussions have focused on closing the gap between when movie DVDs go to retailers rather than as pay-per-view cable offerings.

"Everybody's looking at new windows," said Burke. "We've talked to the studios about this and they're all interested." Burke said there were no imminent developments.

Comcast has been one of the biggest supporters of on-demand video for its 24.2 million subscribers. More than 95 percent of such programming it carries is free to it subscribers.

Time Warner Cable Inc., the No. 2 operator, also said it is planning a new service called 'Catch-Up' which would allow subscribers to view recent first-run television shows.

Time Warner Cable Chief Executive Glenn Britt told The Cable Show audience that such a service would be similar to other initiatives his company has been testing, including 'Start Over,' which allows viewers to start over a program if they come in mid-way through the broadcast. He said they are popular with programmers since Time Warner disables the fast-forward button during advertisements.

"I think we've barely begun to scratch the surface on what we can do," said Britt.

A Time Warner Cable spokesman said the company is still in discussions with program owners for rights to launch 'Catch Up.'

Comcast's Burke also gave his company's strongest public support to Cablevision Systems Corp.'s planned network-based digital video recorder, or DVR, service.

Cablevision's plans were stalled by a court ruling which agreed with a claim by several studios and TV networks that Cablevision's plans to allow viewers to store programs remotely on its network would violate copyright agreements. The company said last month it is appealing the ruling.

"We will do the network DVR if the courts rule it permissible," said Burke. yahoo.com

Would you pay $30-50 to see a movie at home for its opening weekend?

[Killroy]

Absolutely not.

[Tobe_Romero]

Absolutely not.

You could invite friends over and charge $5 a head. I have had friends do that in the past w boxing and wrestking PPVs. Make an event out of it.

[Killroy]

None of my friends care enough about opening night movies to chip in 1 dollar to see it. :) They would probably think I was an idiot for paying that much anyway. Sort of like how swivel feels about me paying 50 bucks for a boxing match (even though that lasts well beyond 2 hours).

With all of the venues out there trying to get my 30 dollars, movies offer the least bang for the buck. At least with a DVD, I own it, a game I play constantly, music I listen to more than once or twice, hell even free tv has decent shows on prime-time.

But 30 bucks to watch Spider-Man 3? No way. There is just too many other things that 30 dollars can buy that I will enjoy for a much, much longer amount of time.

[apocalypticdreamer]

Would you pay $30-50 to see a movie at home for its opening weekend?

Never. If I go to see a movie on opening night, I want to see it on the big screen. Actually going to the theatre and seeing a movie larger than life is half the fun.

[Killroy]

Never. If I go to see a movie on opening night, I want to see it on the big screen. Actually going to the theatre and seeing a movie larger than life is half the fun.

That's another obvious point that I failed to mention as well. I actually like going to the theater. 90 percent of the reason I am still willing to even pay the reduced matinée ticket prices and possibly deal with idiots is the simple fact that I love theaters. Always have.

[AnalBreeze]

I was just discussing this with a friend and I think it would be cool to have movies come out on the internet the same day as they open in theaters! They have to do it eventually, I would still go to the theater to see Spider-Man 3 and 28 Weeks Later but a movie like Hot Fuzz that don't make it to my area would be great to watch on my computer! If you can download a movie to your xbox and it self destucts 24 hours after you press play their has to be somebody thinkin' of all the money they could make releasing a movie on the internet on opening weekend! I would pay 10 or 15 bucks for it! You have to charge enough that it wouldn't hurt the theaters to much but also make it affordable for people who can't get to a theater!

[CPL CHUD]

Absolutely not.
I'm with you. I can wait to own it, especially at that price.

[Horrorholic]

I think this is a absolutely stupid idea. But, it is the wave of the future... or so they say. I seem to remember Universal trying to sell Brokeback Mountain this way when it came out. I don't know what kind of business they did with it but I can't imagine it was anything spectacular (I don't seem to remember it making a lot of money).

If the film didn't come out in my area the first weekend, I would wait it out. For $15 for it to be on my hard drive for 24 hours, I could just own the DVD when it comes out.

Besides, going to the theatre and hearing the crowd is half the fun (And by hearing the crowd, I mean reactions, not all that idle chit chat).

[gprime]

If I had a bunch of friends interested in seeing it, and splitting the cost, then certainly. I recall when I went to see Borat on opening day. I went with about 20 other people I knew. It would have been cheaper for all involved to buy into something like this than to go see it after school at the theater.

[Tolo]

No. The movies are expensive but part of the fun of it is getting the hell out of the house.

[kakihara]

I pay $30 to see a non matinee right now. Tickets are $9.50 x2, small popcorn $5.00 and a small soda $5.00. Matinee tickets are $7.50. We usually try and catch a matinee and sometimes forgoe the popcorn.

I pay that much to see it in the theatre. It is all part of the experience. There is nothing quite like the big screen and you cannot reproduce movie theatre popcorn.;) We really only go to catch something we feel is worthwhile in the theatre. Mostly the big summer action flicks and some horror movies that I just can't wait a few months to see. Other than that, I have BB online, so I can wait.

[CPL CHUD]

I'd pay 30 bucks to own it.

[dop]

I wouldnt, and it would be a horrible idea for them to do it.

Rigth now you can download for free almost any movie of the teater just a day or two after it comes out the only thing on their advantage is many are of the teather hiden camera telesyncs that look like shit wich means if its a movie you care about you will go to the teather. Put it on cable and it will be making the rounds with great video quality in torrent sites witin hours of its airing just like current event ppvs.

Event ppvs still make money because they are live and a closed event, the 40 bucks peeps pay is often less than the worst single seat in any of those arenas and the fact people want to see it live means there are more peeps willing to ship in for an event party, this would be much less of the case with movies.

If anything they should put em on PPV and DVD at non ridiculous prices much sooner than they do now for all the people who have becomed tired of going to the teather to have bad experiences with the rest of the crowd that migth be loud assholes and paying its expencive prices but still leave a few weeks mark between em so they dont get screwed so bad by piracy.

[brokenandtwisted]

Hmm. I thought this out again...I think it'd depend on the movie. Right now, as it is; I usually go with my sister or friends and easily blow eighty dollars at the theater alone (and we go for coffee before, shopping at the Eaton Center, the usual)...but if the movie were sold out, and I'm already out of the house; I'd pay thirty bucks and bring them over...saves me fifty, and I can always purchase foods and such when I'm already out...end rant. :)

[Horrorholic]

Taken from CHUD.COM
If you’ve been reading the front page, you know that Hollywood has been considering a variety of options to firm up box office revenue and thwart the looming threat of piracy. One of the most controversial is the “premiere” day-and-date release which would see major blockbusters available for cable PPV purchase prices in the $30-$50 range on the same day they come out in theaters. With so many eschewing the increasingly shit theatrical experience for a night at home with the fam and the 50-inch HDTV/surround sound system they just dropped a few grand for, studios are desperate to get their hooks back into this most lucrative of moviegoers. And since a lot of having a pimp home theater is about showing it off to friends and acquaintances, what could be more “hip” than getting a must-see title at home where you don’t have to consider going all Hostel on the group of snotty punks two rows ahead who can’t stop texting for 90 minutes?

The only question is which title is going to kick off this experiment, and the answer isn’t that surprising. It appears that Michael Bay’s Transformers will claim the mantle. According to techie site Uberpulse.com, the film will debut on July 3 on cable PPV for the upper-range price of $49. The story’s short on details beyond that, so I can’t tell you for sure that it will only be “cable” PPV, as opposed to PPV across cable and satellite systems. Still, either scenario would be a groundbreaker, and studios will be watching the returns and response very closely. Also watching will be theater execs, who are appropriately scared at being dealt another blow to their shrinking revenue.

But even if there are snafus (and the one I’m rooting for is a simple labeling mistake to result in Transformers: The Movie being shown instead for the first several thousand orders or so. I believe Justin’s money is on TransAmerica.), this idea will continue to move forward. All these gatekeepers are more panicked by the loss of control than any short-term revenue hits. They’ve been spoiled by nearly a century of being able to dictate how the consumer can buy content, for what price, and how they will be allowed to enjoy their content. Now with the Internet as the great equalizer, that horse is long gone, and it’s going to be a long, messy negotiation between consumers and movie and music studios as to how things are going to be from here. There’s no magical silver bullet that will turn back the clock, and as the music industry is learning the hard way right now, you either get down or lay down.