Phillip Swann is president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in dozens of publications and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Inside Edition, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Associated Press and The Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at swann@tvpredictions.com or at 703-505-3064.
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“The reality is most people who were planning to go out to the movies would still go out (movie-going is a social experience), but studios would now capture consumers who were not/could not get out to a movie,” Greenfield wrote in a Jan. 24 post to his clients, according to Home Media Magazine.
Of course, the plan would not sit well with theater owners who have complained in the past about such premium VOD schemes. But even with the movie being available on the same day it's released in the theater, it's hard to see many consumers shelling out $25 for a single film, unless, perhaps, it's a must-see blockbuster.
Mr. Greenfield may not know this but Americans are struggling these days; I mean, they are really struggling. They are looking to cut back on their home entertainment spending, not expand it.
It seems to me that Greenfield, like many studio executives, are so desperate to find new entertainment revenues that they will propose almost anything, regardless of how silly it may sound. However, in so doing, they are diminishing their credibility in the category.