But Shari Redstone, president of National Amusements, said the cable premiere would tamper with the "magic" of the movie theater.
“It might be good for Comcast, but I don’t believe it’s good for anybody else,” Redstone told the Times. "Everything that chips away at our revenue chips away at our ability to preserve – and improve – the moviegoing experience.”
In an interview with the Times, Burke held his contention that the same day premiere could help both cable and the theater owner.
"I’m sure some movie theaters won’t like the added competition,” he said. “But at the end of the day, it’s about giving consumers what they want. Anybody who doesn’t do that is going to get left behind.”
Comcast has offered a similar philosophy while trying to persuade more TV networks to add their best shows to cable's on demand lineups.
According to the Times, Disney and Paramount said they are discussing a 'same day' premiere with Comcast. (However, Paramount's owner, Viacom, said yesterday that it would not permit one of its films to premiere on cable on the same day as in the theater.) Universal, 20th Century Fox and Sony Pictures refused to comment.
However, if a studio pursues the it's clear that many theater owners will balk.
“If Comcast is offering a movie for $30 and someone invites 10 friends over to watch it at a house party, you’ve potentially lost 10 cinema sales with one video-on-demand sale," John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, told the Times.
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