Earlier this year studios imposed a one-month delay after street date before new DVD releases could become available for rent in Redbox's omnipresent kiosks. With rental options like Redbox and Netflix cutting into studios' home-entertainment bottom lines, it was inevitable that the issue wouldn't be going away anytime soon. Now Warner Bros. and Netflix have agreed to a similar month-long delay on new releases arriving on Netflix.
Warners obviously hopes that the delay will inspire more people to buy rather than waiting a few weeks to rent, but given that there's often a wait for the most popular new releases anyway, I'm not sure how much impact it's likely to make. In exchange, Netflix got several considerations including "improved financial terms, higher inventory levels and increased access to content for its online streaming service," according to the L.A. Times.
That last one seems especially crucial. I've been a Netflix customer for years, but since the streaming service became available over my Xbox 360, I can't remember the last time I actually watched a physical DVD from the service. My streaming queue, however, gets regular rotation, sometimes rivaling the amount of time I use the system for actual gaming. Granted, many of the new releases and high-profile titles still aren't available right away, if at all, via streaming, but would Warner Bros. be better served focusing on embracing that technology and making it profitable? Time will tell.
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