Movie studios will blame anything for struggling sales from piracy to Netflix – except for putting out horrible movies. The latest excuse movie studios are adopting, the red-box kiosks that are seen in grocery stores like Wal-mart, Kroger and Albertson’s are the reason DVD sales are falling. To stop struggling sales, Warner Bros. put a one month waiting period on DVD rental kiosks.
“On Thursday, Warner said that starting in October, it would handle all sales to kiosk operators directly, as opposed to the current practice of letting distributors sell its DVDs to kiosk operators,” Sarah McBride of the Wall Street Journal reported. “Any kiosk operator buying the latest DVDs from Warner must agree not to put them in its kiosks for 28 days. Most rentals and purchases of DVDs occur in the month right after they come onto the market.”
Redbox president Mitch Lowe said that the company “will continue to stand behind our customers and our commitment to providing convenient, affordable access to new release DVDs from all studios including Warner Brothers.”
What do think is the real reason behind this: hurting DVD sales or Blockbuster?