In the theater today and on DVD tonight

IFC Entertainment unveils a plan to release 24 films in theaters and on cable at the same time this year.
The New York Times

The story "In the theater today and on DVD tonight" published January 22, 2006 at 10:20 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

Content from The New York Times expires after 7 days.

[zaznet]

I predicted this years ago :)

When I first learned of cable TV as a youngster I predicted that there would be a day when Movies would skip directly to TV. We see this all the time with "mad for TV" movies. We also see several "direct to DVD" titles today.

The only thing new here is that they will show it on the big screen the same day it comes to video on demand.

The "on demand" market is pretty big and companies like Time Warner have been biting at the bit for major movies to come to their channel earlier.

Streaming the movies directly into homes is a much more direct line to the consumers. I'm waiting for the big studios to really catch on to how much they could make by cutting out the theater and going directly to the TV set.

I pay $7.50 to see a movie now, or $1.00 to see it in the gap between theater and DVD. I'd easily pay the $7.50 or more to see say... Spiderman 3 in my home on release day. Since I'd have more than myself going, $15.00 to show it in my home wouldn't be out of the question. We are approaching the sale price of the DVD, but on a medium where the costs are lower.

Big movie studios will catch on before long, too much money can be made :)

[zaznet]

I predicted this years ago :)

When I first learned of cable TV as a youngster I predicted that there would be a day when Movies would skip directly to TV. We see this all the time with "mad for TV" movies. We also see several "direct to DVD" titles today.

The only thing new here is that they will show it on the big screen the same day it comes to video on demand.

The "on demand" market is pretty big and companies like Time Warner have been biting at the bit for major movies to come to their channel earlier.

Streaming the movies directly into homes is a much more direct line to the consumers. I'm waiting for the big studios to really catch on to how much they could make by cutting out the theater and going directly to the TV set.

I pay $7.50 to see a movie now, or $1.00 to see it in the gap between theater and DVD. I'd easily pay the $7.50 or more to see say... Spiderman 3 in my home on release day. Since I'd have more than myself going, $15.00 to show it in my home wouldn't be out of the question. We are approaching the sale price of the DVD, but on a medium where the costs are lower.

Big movie studios will catch on before long, too much money can be made :)

[Earl Benser]

Tactic will be the death of movie theatres

DVD's are already eating into the movie attendance. Typically, I
skip the theatre presentation, wait for the reviews, and then buy
DVD's (@ $15.00) of the movies that I decide are worth it. So, I'm
late is seeing the movie, but the movie is just as good or better
on DVD, And I'd rather watch on my HDTV than a movie screen
(Yes, I know the DVD isn't HDTV yet).

I buy afterthoughts from the pawn shops for $5 to #7 per DVD.
So one way or another, I get the movies I want at my price.

I don't bother with Pay-per-View. I'm not in that much of a
hurry, and the price is more than I want to pay for a transient
experience. This new idea isn't going to change that.

All this tactic is going to do is speed up my selection process.

It just may give lots of other people the same idea as well.

[sundown]

IC release of independant films.

Sounds like a great idea, since most films on this channel and also the sundance channel are old. I hope directv picks up on this idea.

[jeolmeun]

What about online releases?

What about, free or pay, online releases on Google Video?