Rental services like Netflix, Blockbuster, and others will now have to wait eight full weeks after a Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Brothers movie comes out on DVD or Blu-ray before they will be available to rent. Eight weeks is now twice as long as the usual delay for such movies.
This decision is designed to boost DVD sales as well as UltraViolet, which allows DVD buyers or movie dowloads to be watched online using tablets or smartphones. Warner Brothers wants movie rental companies to make the now eight week wait part of their deals. Redbox has not agreed to any of the new terms, Netflix has.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has declined to comment on this "speculation." In 2010, the makers of
The Dark Knight,
The Hangover, and numerous other movies imposed a four week wait on rentals.
This is in part due to previous and expected drops in DVD/Blu-ray sells.
Also, Time Warner's HBO said it would no longer sell discounted DVDs of their productions directly to Netflix. They still would be able to buy discs from distributors or retailers, many often discount new DVDs to these large companies.
What does all of this mean for you? Well, you're going to have to wait a little longer to re-watch certain movies (it's not like you're waiting for the DVD to see it for the first time). If you are a frequent renter, you've got a wait on your hands or your DVD collection is about to get a little bigger.
What say you? Good decision, bad decision? Will this change how you watch movies, or does anyone even rent anymore?