Video Business has a new report this week on the stabilizing of Blu-ray Disc pricing on new releases. Many people may be unaware that despite the huge price variance found on both Blu-rays and DVDs among various retailers, the standard pricing for new releases on DVD paid by large retailers and distributors has been set at $17.99 for the last several years. Paramount raised the ire of some retailers earlier this year when they raised the wholesale cost of their new release DVDs to $18.30, but the other studios have so far not followed suit.
Blu-ray pricing, on the other hand, has been all over the board since the format’s launch two years ago. According to industry buyers in the Video Business article, however, that is finally changing. Although the pricing between studios has not standardized, the new pricing for new release titles from any given studio has now standardized.
For the major studios, the wholesale pricing on new release titles has been set at:
- Warner: $24.99
- Paramount: $25.95
- Disney: $24.50
- Sony: $25.95
(Note: Pricing for Fox and Universal titles not mentioned.)
While these prices represent a $6.50 - $8.00 premium over the standard edition DVDs, they are generally much closer to the $23 - $26 wholesale pricing offered on special edition DVDs. Also, retailers and rentailers are excited about re-pricing offers being offered by the major studios on catalog Blu-ray titles. For example, in a move to help get more of their Blu-ray product onto rental store shelves, they are offering a 10 for $10 deal where stores can obtain 10 Paramount Blu-ray catalog titles for only $10 each. Moves such as that can really help stores expand their Blu-ray offerings at a significant savings, and in turn, help promote the growth of the format by showing consumers a much broader array of title offerings.
0 comments:
Post a Comment