Blu-ray caught in shift to streaming

[Smokey]

A stream of box-office hits and classics, including the Indiana Jones films and Titanic, are queued up for release on Blu-ray Disc as part of a concerted campaign to cement the high-definition format's place in your living room.

Despite Blu-ray video and sound superiority to DVD, the format is growing at a slower pace than expected. Meanwhile, the momentum of streaming video threatens to snuff out some consumers' love of movies on physical discs as it lessens the likelihood that "somebody goes and buys a Blu-ray movie or rents it," says Phil Swann, president of TVPredictions.com.

Studios see their window closing -- not real quick, but closing slowly, Swann says. … They want to "get these classic movies out there and sell them now, because we aren't exactly sure what the environment is going to look like a year from now." A number of landmark films are hitting Blu-ray for the first time in this fall, among them are classics such as Lawrence of Arabia.

Bluray is 6 years old and more than one-third of U.S. homes have Blu-ray Disc players--including a Sony PlayStation 3 game system--where at this point in DVD's lifespan, about half of U.S. households had a DVD player. However the consulting firm expects Blu-ray movie disc sales will surpass DVDs by 2015.

Blu-ray caught in shift to streaming - USATODAY.com

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

A stream of box-office hits and classics, including the Indiana Jones films and Titanic, are queued up for release on Blu-ray Disc as part of a concerted campaign to cement the high-definition format's place in your living room.

Despite Blu-ray video and sound superiority to DVD, the format is growing at a slower pace than expected. Meanwhile, the momentum of streaming video threatens to snuff out some consumers' love of movies on physical discs as it lessens the likelihood that "somebody goes and buys a Blu-ray movie or rents it," says Phil Swann, president of TVPredictions.com.

Studios see their window closing -- not real quick, but closing slowly, Swann says. … They want to "get these classic movies out there and sell them now, because we aren't exactly sure what the environment is going to look like a year from now." A number of landmark films are hitting Blu-ray for the first time in this fall, among them are classics such as Lawrence of Arabia.

Bluray is 6 years old and more than one-third of U.S. homes have Blu-ray Disc players--including a Sony PlayStation 3 game system--where at this point in DVD's lifespan, about half of U.S. households had a DVD player. However the consulting firm expects Blu-ray movie disc sales will surpass DVDs by 2015.

Blu-ray caught in shift to streaming - USATODAY.com

This article is totally misleading. In the first half of this year, Bluray sales were up 13.3% over the first half of 2011. 2011 first half sales were up over 2010 first half.

Yes streaming subscription are growing quickly, but it still represents a fraction of entertainment dollars when compared to disc.

[E-Stat]

Yes streaming subscription are growing quickly, but it still represents a fraction of entertainment dollars when compared to disc.

And that is estimated to reverse in 2016.

"Video-streaming revenue, which accounted for about $2.8 billion in 2011, will reach $6.7 billion by 2016, PwC estimates. That will surpass disc sales, which are expected to decline from about $9 billion in 2011 to about $5.5 billion in 2016."

As with high rez music, the video public clearly prefers convenience especially since choice is in no way limited as is the case with the music industry.

[Smokey]

As with high rez music, the video public clearly prefers convenience especially since choice is in no way limited as is the case with the music industry.

But unlike music, video is not as mobile

Probably most of disc sale decline can be contributed to decline in DVD sales as title availability in that catagory is becoming less selective, and for being inferior to bluray in term of picture quality.

[E-Stat]

But unlike music, video is not as mobile

I'm glad your being facetious as devices like iPhones and iPads are exceptionally portable. On my phone, I have videos of my wedding, a parachute jump and an ice skating programs with my wife.

Currently on her iPad is the third season of the TV series Emergency! and a funny movie called A Mightly Wind. She frequently streams Netflix movies on it, too.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I'm glad your being facetious as devices like iPhones and iPads are exceptionally portable. On my phone, I have videos of my wedding, a parachute jump and an ice skating programs with my wife.

Currently on her iPad is the third season of the TV series Emergency! and a funny movie called A Mightly Wind. She frequently streams Netflix movies on it, too.

Your experience is not transferable to the masses. The television as a viewing choice still by far is the most preferred viewing device, and that trend leans in that way more year over year.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

And that is estimated to reverse in 2016.

With sales rising year over year, that estimate is based on what? And quite frankly, who in the hell is endowned to predict what is going to happen four years from now?

"Video-streaming revenue, which accounted for about $2.8 billion in 2011, will reach $6.7 billion by 2016, PwC estimates. That will surpass disc sales, which are expected to decline from about $9 billion in 2011 to about $5.5 billion in 2016."

As with high rez music, the video public clearly prefers convenience especially since choice is in no way limited as is the case with the music industry.

Sorry, but the model for the music industry is quite different than that of the film industry. Mixing the two together shows a profound ignorance of how each work in the market. While DVD sales are falling, Bluray sales are trending upwards at a faster rate than streaming subscriptions are. And with the caps that both telecoms and the cable industry are putting on, who is to say that streaming subscriptions won't trend downwards as caps are lowered as a result of too much streaming traffic.

Predictions had HD DVD beating Bluray back in the day because of the price of the players. We see how that turned out don't we.

[E-Stat]

While DVD sales are falling, Bluray sales are trending upwards at a faster rate than streaming subscriptions are. And with the caps that both telecoms and the cable industry are putting on, who is to say that streaming subscriptions won't trend downwards as caps are lowered as a result of too much streaming traffic.

Best of luck to your counter to industry trends estimate.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Best of luck to your counter to industry trends estimate.

Best of luck relying on a estimate rather than actual figures reported by NDP. Based on actual figures, streaming subscriptions would have to jump 400% year over year to catch the sales of disc. It is not growing that fast now, has not in the past, and there is no sign it will in the future.

[thekid]

I like so many others have been late to the table on Blu-Ray in part because of its cost. Add in the fact that many people just spent money not too no long ago for their High-Def DVD players it is easy to see why sales have lagged.

However as is my way I will be taking my first plunge into Blu-Ray via the used gear market. This weekend I found an older Sony Blu-Ray player stacked among the regular DVD players at a local Goodwill for $20. It is in good shape and appears to play well. I have to get a remote for it to access all of its features but that should not be a problem. I will be curious to compare it to my Oppo players once I get it up and running.

[Mr Peabody]

I'm afraid those who want quality are a minority. That is one parallel between the movie and music industry I bet will hold true. The economy may have some impact but I think if people felt strongly about quality that Blu ray would be much further along than it is.

I personally hope both CD and BDP continue to be sold as I have not embraced streaming. Even when putting music on a mp3 player for travel it was music from my own collection for the most part.

I have to admit I am pretty surprised myself how fast streaming is growing. Sir T, when you had this argument before with former posters who no longer show up here I was pretty sure you were going to be right, but since then streaming is like an outbreak. I have no numbers, I'm just going by what I see people around me doing. We also have to consider streaming is almost available on any device, receivers, video disc players, TV's and other devices especially for streaming. I personally haven't seen any recent info on capping, in fact, some cable companies are boasting faster speeds than ever offered before.

My experience with streaming so far, I let my kids try some free content from Dish over the internet connection, which I admit may not be the best, but the movie consistently paused so the stream could catch up, that would drive me crazy and to download completely to watch removes the convenience. I won't order PPV at $6.99 a title, that's 1/2 or 1/3 the price of the disc, I'd just asoon buy the disc.

[E-Stat]

I'm afraid those who want quality are a minority. That is one parallel between the movie and music industry I bet will hold true.

Have you ever been to a public environment - airport, restaurant, bar, barber shop, auto/tire dealer, hotel, etc. where the flat video monitor was NOT distorting the native 4:3 picture into a 16:9 perspective? That drives me nuts. I don't like the stretched world of fat faced people, but apparently others DON'T EVEN NOTICE.

Even when folks have HDTV capability with its increased resolution and wider aspect ratio, some folks like my wife's parents choose to watch the low-def version. They just don't care that much.

[RGA]

Personally, I am not a videophile - I owned Laserdisc but the reason I bought LD was for the wide screen format which was difficult to get on VHS. LD prices were so high that I would rent and record them onto tape.

The problem with youth is that they figure anything on the net is free and with torrents they can download pretty much any TV series/movie/music for free. Yes Blu-Ray is better than DVD or what you get from a torrent but most people don't care.

There is too much competition from alternate forms of entertainment - and people make less money.

If a kid has X dollars he spends it on a video game and a iPhone related stuff and will download the music and movies for free. It's much harder to download video games.

LPs interestingly should be the music industries' dream. You can copy it to a computer but it requires a lot more work - and time. You have to play the whole album in real time. The owner actually gets some cover art and a physicality to the artist they are buying which makes it more of a keepsake. CD was practically worthless on that front but way better than disposable download in bits inside a computer. It's wrong of course but people just don't see stealing unless it is a physical thing being taken - they don't see digital bits floating in cyberspace as stealing. Asia certainly doesn't - they have laws but no one enforces them. I can go to China tomorrow and buy any Blu-Ray in perfect Blu-Ray copy of any motion picture (including some not in theaters yet - promo-copies) and pay $1 US. In those markets there are tons and tons of tourists buying them up in droves. You can't do that on LP and you can't do that on LD. By allowing machines to be sold to the public that can copy Blu-Ray to Blu-Ray and CD to CD and DVD to DVD you are basically saying - here steal everything.

The manufacturers gave people the record button and then wonder why people actually use the button.

[Smokey]

My experience with streaming so far, I let my kids try some free content from Dish over the internet connection, which I admit may not be the best, but the movie consistently paused so the stream could catch up, that would drive me crazy and to download completely to watch removes the convenience.

IMO that is one main reason preventing video from going completely mobile (unlike music). Unless you have wifi hot spot at home or at remote locations, you will be limited at what you can watch on mobile devices.

Have you ever been to a public environment - airport, restaurant, bar, barber shop, auto/tire dealer, hotel, etc. where the flat video monitor was NOT distorting the native 4:3 picture into a 16:9 perspective? That drives me nuts. I don't like the stretched world of fat faced people, but apparently others DON'T EVEN NOTICE.

So you don't like watching distorted the native 4:3 picture into a 16:9 TV, but don't mind watching movies and TV shows on a tiny hand held devices? I rather watch the former

Asia certainly doesn't - they have laws but no one enforces them. I can go to China tomorrow and buy any Blu-Ray in perfect Blu-Ray copy of any motion picture (including some not in theaters yet - promo-copies) and pay $1 US.

China seem to use different rules concerning copy right laws for music and video. For example, if you go to China's main search engine...

°Ù¶Èһϣ¬Äã¾ÍÖªµÀ

....you will see a link for tons of MP3s. I can not play any of MP3s due to my location (outside China), but I bet it is free to listen to them in China. I never seen such a link in western search engines.

[E-Stat]

So you don't like watching distorted the native 4:3 picture into a 16:9 TV, but don't mind watching movies and TV shows on a tiny hand held devices? I rather watch the former

I watched the Apollo 11 moon landing on a 19" B&W Zenith. I can handle a 10" iPad just fine when the image is not distorted.

BTW, WiFi is available in lots of places, including Starbucks, McDonalds and on Delta flights while aloft.

[Smokey]

BTW, WiFi is available in lots of places, including Starbucks, McDonalds and on Delta flights while aloft.

And I hope you're not spending hour and half at Starbuck or McDonalds watching movies

[E-Stat]

And I hope you're not spending hour and half at Starbuck or McDonalds watching movies

While having a meal, just enough time to watch a 20 minute TV episode you missed or an oldie you would like to watch again on Hulu or Netflix .

[Mr Peabody]

One other thing, a friend of mine is a big streamer of video and it seems his big draw is the endless selection and being able to buy Ala Carte, watch what ever he wants when he wants. This would probably trump quality pretty big since none of us have the space or money to own every single movie and TV series.

[Mr Peabody]

LOL, the football head effect, it drives me crazy.

Smokey, video is mobile because it's downloaded and stored on the mobile device, streaming is some what available for mobile devices as Estat mentioned but I suspect most people load up what they want to view before traveling.

[Mr Peabody]

Check this out, the speed;
Google Fiber: Google announced Sunday that it will be building high-speed Internet out for at least 180 of the 220 qualifying neighborhoods in Kansas City as part of its effort to roll out 1-gigabit connections.

The company declared the effort to be a complete success. “This number has blown us away — and it’s not even the final tally,” wrote Google Access General Manager Kevin Lo in a company blog post.

[GMichael]

Right now, when I spend $20-30 on a BR disk, I get, 1 in 3D, 1 2D, 1 DVD and 1 digital. I can watch the 3D with family, the 2D when company comes over. My daughter can watch the DVD in her room, and we download the digital to our laptop and phones. We end up watching many of them over and over. Sometimes several times a day (anyone with a 3 year old at home should be able to relate) Can downloads do the same for me? Can I watch them in any/every room of my house 20, 30, or 50 times?

[E-Stat]

Right now, when I spend $20-30 on a BR disk, I get, 1 in 3D, 1 2D, 1 DVD and 1 digital. Can downloads do the same for me? Can I watch them in any/every room of my house 20, 30, or 50 times?

With a streaming service and decent bandwidth, you can watch content as many times as you wish - albeit NOT in 3D nor BR quality.

Do you buy BR disks of every movie you choose to watch? That would get far too pricey for me. I use Netflix to view and stream far more movies (and TV series) than I care to purchase in BR format. Whenever I buy a movie, however, I always prefer the BR version if that is available - which is not always the case with older movies.

[Smokey]

Whenever I buy a movie, however, I always prefer the BR version if that is available - which is not always the case with older movies.

I wonder if bluray will fill the void (especially as you sid such as older movies) left by DVDs as less and less tiltes are becoming available on DVDs. I imagine cost of remastering the film for bluray format might be one reason the void might not get filled, especially with less popular titles.

[E-Stat]

I wonder if bluray will fill the void (especially as you sid such as older movies) left by DVDs as less and less tiltes are becoming available on DVDs. I imagine cost of remastering the film for bluray format might be one reason the void might not get filled, especially with less popular titles.

I suspect that it really isn't cost effective to remaster everything in BR. Like the CD before it, the DVD will likely soldier on - if not in decreasing numbers year by year.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I wonder if bluray will fill the void (especially as you sid such as older movies) left by DVDs as less and less tiltes are becoming available on DVDs. I imagine cost of remastering the film for bluray format might be one reason the void might not get filled, especially with less popular titles.

Not exactly Smoke. Warner and Paramount are about to release some high value catalog titles that they have spent millions remastering and restoring. Why would they do this? Because they more than make their money back in sales of those titles.

Disney has restored many of their classics for the same reason - they sell like hotcakes.