louisgray.com: Think Apple Would Dare To Take On the Movie Theaters?
Louis Gray published this great idea tonight…
The movie theater industry has already lost me as a customer, for the most part. But they can get some of my revenue back if they strike a deal with Apple, and make new releases available on iTunes the day they debut in the theater.
I propose the following pricing for a 24-hour new movie rental:
$9.99 for viewing in the first two weeks.
$7.99 for viewing in weeks three through six.
$5.99 for viewing in weeks six through twelve.
Standard iTunes pricing for all weeks afterward.[From louisgray.com: Think Apple Would Dare To Take On the Movie Theaters?]
I was thinking of this exact solution the other night as I was sitting there thinking “how can I see Iron Man”, when I have two small kids to take care of. I suspect if the movie studios could cut a deal to create a model where theater releases were priced at roughly the same cost as 2 people going to a movie (perhaps more then the 9.99 suggested by Louis), then they would still get the same kind of revenue but give the consumer choice.
As I mentioned I suspect the first 2 week cost could be even more. Maybe $16 even. Movie tickets now cost in the $8 range each. New releases would typically be watched by two members of a family so perhaps $18 is not outrageous. Maybe at that cost there is an option to apply your new release rental charge to a DVD purchase when it gets released.
Clearly, I haven’t done all the economics math, but as most of us wouldn’t pay $9.99 to _buy_ a film for iTunes, why would we pay double to _rent_ it, even if it is new? I want this capability, and proposed a benchmark price, but I don’t know if it would fly.
Definitely, as you say, the problem is there. With my wife just over a month away from releasing our first set of twins in beta, I don’t think I’ll be leaving the house much soon, except to go to work!
Louis Gray
7 May 08 at 7:21 am