Netflix has reached an agreement with Warner Bros. to delay the studios’ DVD and Blu-ray releases for 28 days to give them more time to sell before customers can rent the discs.
In return, Netflix gets access to more titles from Warner’s catalog for customers to rent by mail or view online. The companies didn’t release financial details of the transaction, which was reported by BusinessWeek.
Studios are struggling with the flat-rate rental business model pioneered by Netflix and copied by Blockbuster Online, and you can bet Warner Bros. won’t be the last to strike such a deal.
But what the companies have to watch out for is unintended consequences. While many customers won’t mind waiting a month to get one of Warner’s new titles in the mail, being caught up in their busy lives of trying to keep their jobs or trying to get a new one after losing theirs to the recession, others be angered by the move. Many will doubtless turn to the all-too-easy acquisition method of piracy.
The show will go on.
