Introduction
Windowing was originally used as the film industry’s strategy to garner more revenue based off of one film’s release dates. A film would originally get distributed in a theatrical release. There would then roughly be a four month gap, or window, between when the film was taken out of cinemas and released via DVD (Miller, 2015). In having a gap between cinema and DVD release the film industry thought it would generate ‘hype’ surrounding the film. They thought it would create this ‘buzz’ by having the window just long enough so the audience who saw the film, in cinemas, would talk about it to people who have not. Thus, through word-of-mouth the audience who missed the film in cinema would then go out and buy the film on DVD. With …show more content…
If the online VOD companies are making their own films then those films are going to be released via their VOD service. Thus, cinemas may not even have the chance to show them. Netflix had 4.94 million subscribers in the U.K at the end of last year (Statista, 2016). Statista, a statistics company, is predicting that by the year 2020 Netflix will reach 9.5 million subscribers in the U.K alone (2016). Thus, with this rapid rise in subscribers and Netflix producing their own films, it is clear the idea of windowing will be a business strategy of the past. Netflix will be showing these films in cinemas but they have control when they will stream the films on their service (Regalado, 2016). Thus, the window can disappear altogether, such as day-and-date releases, or a significant decrease in how long the window …show more content…
This is because of many films having day-and-date releases. Not all films have these releases but a lot of films do, especially independent films. There are so many films that open every weekend which makes it hard for all films to make the revenue the production companies expect. Online VOD services such as Netflix has contributed to the idea of windowing slowly eroding. Netflix has developed their own film production team and have started producing their own films. Thus, audiences will be more inclined to watch the film online rather than pay to see it in cinemas. This results in the idea of windowing eroding as a business strategy. Netflix will have control over how long the window is, if there will be a window at all. Statistics also prove that millions of people in the U.K alone are subscribers to online VOD services. Thus, it would be smarter for them with the many day-and-date released to stay home and watch the film rather than go out to the cinema and spend money on a ticket there. Yet, that does not have to be a bad thing. Rather, having day-and-date releases will make it better for certain films to make money. Netflix is able to give certain films, such as independent films, another platform to reach audiences and in the end make a profit. This would be a profit that those films may not have made if only released in cinemas and then given
Windowing was originally used as the film industry’s strategy to garner more revenue based off of one film’s release dates. A film would originally get distributed in a theatrical release. There would then roughly be a four month gap, or window, between when the film was taken out of cinemas and released via DVD (Miller, 2015). In having a gap between cinema and DVD release the film industry thought it would generate ‘hype’ surrounding the film. They thought it would create this ‘buzz’ by having the window just long enough so the audience who saw the film, in cinemas, would talk about it to people who have not. Thus, through word-of-mouth the audience who missed the film in cinema would then go out and buy the film on DVD. With …show more content…
If the online VOD companies are making their own films then those films are going to be released via their VOD service. Thus, cinemas may not even have the chance to show them. Netflix had 4.94 million subscribers in the U.K at the end of last year (Statista, 2016). Statista, a statistics company, is predicting that by the year 2020 Netflix will reach 9.5 million subscribers in the U.K alone (2016). Thus, with this rapid rise in subscribers and Netflix producing their own films, it is clear the idea of windowing will be a business strategy of the past. Netflix will be showing these films in cinemas but they have control when they will stream the films on their service (Regalado, 2016). Thus, the window can disappear altogether, such as day-and-date releases, or a significant decrease in how long the window …show more content…
This is because of many films having day-and-date releases. Not all films have these releases but a lot of films do, especially independent films. There are so many films that open every weekend which makes it hard for all films to make the revenue the production companies expect. Online VOD services such as Netflix has contributed to the idea of windowing slowly eroding. Netflix has developed their own film production team and have started producing their own films. Thus, audiences will be more inclined to watch the film online rather than pay to see it in cinemas. This results in the idea of windowing eroding as a business strategy. Netflix will have control over how long the window is, if there will be a window at all. Statistics also prove that millions of people in the U.K alone are subscribers to online VOD services. Thus, it would be smarter for them with the many day-and-date released to stay home and watch the film rather than go out to the cinema and spend money on a ticket there. Yet, that does not have to be a bad thing. Rather, having day-and-date releases will make it better for certain films to make money. Netflix is able to give certain films, such as independent films, another platform to reach audiences and in the end make a profit. This would be a profit that those films may not have made if only released in cinemas and then given