Netflix has agreed to a deal with Warner Brothers that will delay Netflix users’ ability to rent the latest releases from Warner Brothers. If I want to see a Warner Bros. movie within the first thirty days of its release onto video, I will have to buy it.
While the rational part of me completely understands why Warner Bros. (and other movie houses) are making these sorts of agreements, the consumer in me is just angry. I have made a conscious effort to cut down on how many movies we actually buy these days, as we have two full bookshelves of DVD’s as it is. At some point, we’re going to be able to open our own DVD rental store, I think. I have taken the attitude that if we aren’t going to watch a movie more than once, then maybe we shouldn’t be buying it, we should be renting it.
But these types of “deals” with our favorite rental companies can ruin those plans for us. A “hot” movie that we are waiting to see can be delayed 30 or more days because of these agreements, and the only way we can get them is to buy them, or go out of our way to another store to rent them (if they are even in stock). What’s the point of paying for the Netflix subscription if we can’t get any new releases with it? And what really worries me is, when do other movie rental locations end up with the same agreements, including Blockbuster, RedBox, and all the indie rental stores out there?
This certainly doesn’t endear me any to the movie houses at this point. If they want us to buy movies, then maybe they should be making better movies in the first place? Not every movie made needs to end up on the home DVD shelf, nor should it.
Well it means that I am not starting up my subscription again after the Christmas hiatus. goodbye Netflix, hello Blockbuster.
It doesn’t bother me at all. Part of the deal was giving more streaming content to Netflix, which I think is a big plus. I have enough stuff in my Queue, waiting another month is no big deal.