NPD Group says discs don't have to fear downloads... yet

by Steven Kim posted Feb 6th 2009 at 6:51AM

Pretty much falling in line with Futuresource's predictions earlier this week, the NPD Group found that the 48-percent of respondents had purchased a DVD or Blu-ray disc, compared to 2-percent who had downloaded a movie or TV show. Download-only zealots who cry foul over the lack of titles available for purchase will find little consolation in the additional 2-percent who digitally rented content. Still, physical media could take a lesson from the new kid on the block, and we'd agree that getting rid of the numerous previews on discs to mimic the "just watch the content, already" performance of streams would be a good start. Prioritize that above including more BD-Live "features," please; based on what we've seen so far, we don't think that's going to be what really pushes people from DVD to Blu-ray, no matter what the poll numbers say.

Filed under: Industry, Blu-ray, Internet

Tags: blu-ray, digital downloads, DigitalDownloads, download, npd group, NpdGroup, sales, streaming

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Highest Ranked

Darren @ Feb 6th 2009 7:14AM

"...that getting rid of the numerous previews on discs to mimic the "just watch the content, already" performance of streams would be a good start. Prioritize that above including more BD-Live "features", please..."

I've never read truer words on my computer screen, ever.

I love Blu-ray and I want it to succeed but...

I'm becoming increasingly livid at PAYING for a movie on DVD and being FORCED to watch trailers, adverts for theme parks, disclaimers and (once novel) but now annoying and convoluted menus, before being even given the opportunity to play the damn thing.

And BD-Live? I couldn't care less.

I far more enjoy DVDs that I've ripped because they have the movie only and I can get to them immediately.

Neutral

Jonsson @ Feb 6th 2009 9:47AM

Agree completely. Get rid of the additional crap and definitely get rid of the unskippable shit you're forced to go through before watching the bit that actually bight them damned disk for in the first place..

Neutral

Moaner @ Feb 6th 2009 8:03AM

I was formerly in the camp of downloaders ultimately prevailing over media hounds. You just can't argue with not having to return a movie, whether dropping it off at the Post Office or the local BB. But with ISPs going the way of bandwidth caps I'm rethinking the whole concept of cloud computing.

As for BDlive, its as slow as watching grass grow. The concept is great but it fails miserably in its execution. Reminiscent of the 8088 and the F9 coffee break. Not worth the trouble, unless you have tons of time on your hands.

Highest Ranked

minimalist @ Feb 6th 2009 9:04AM

This reminds me of something Steve Kim said on podcast 121 about how
Rhapsody's ever changing catalog left a bad taste in his mouth.

One thing no one ever really talks about in the whole downloads v.
disc debate is the annoyingly short licensing arrangements studios
make with download and streaming services. Movies will be there
one day gone the next. The Apple TV Junkie site lists new movies
that have been added each week right along side movies that have been
removed. It seems to be even worse with streaming Netflix's deals
with Starz where huge blocks of movies disappear at once. VOD is the
same way.

Which means these services may be convenient but are ultimately
unreliable... which makes many consumers (such as me) hesitant to put
their trust in them as a primary source for content.

Neutral

minimalist @ Feb 6th 2009 9:30AM

And in case anyone thinks I'm some sort of download hater I own both an Apple TV and an Xbox360. And I use them on occasion (once every month or two) to rent movies plus I use Netflix Streaming a good bit and Boxee on the Apple TV is good for the occasional show I missed.

But where's the majority of my entertainment budget still going? Blu-ray purchases and a 4 at a time plan from Netflix.

Neutral

Bozster @ Feb 6th 2009 1:01PM

you are right.. but this is not fault of downloads as future now is it? it's purely fixable by studios and it won't really cost them anything. They are protecting packaged media still, but as demand goes up they will stop limiting downloads potential like this.

They've improved content delivery several times just in the last year. It's not hard to see that they'll continue offering more and more content as times go by.

Neutral

minimalist @ Feb 6th 2009 10:22PM

You can believe that if you want but I am not gonna hold my breath.

My money is on a long painful fight between consumers and the content providers before we can ever get to the point where they will give is what we want, high quality, no DRM fiels for a reasonable discount over physical media.

It took the music industry 10 plus years to get to this point and I don't expect the video providers to get there any sooner.

Highly Ranked

Bozster @ Feb 6th 2009 1:04PM

From the article: "Consumers overwhelmingly prefer physical over digitally-delivered entertainment, but discs’ selling points nevertheless need sharpening, according to participants at Tuesday’s Future of Packaged Media conference in Los Angeles."

pay attention to this: "at Tuesday’s Future of Packaged Media conference in Los Angeles."

I would say that a conference for Future of Package Media with participants that still rely on packaged media is certainly not going to say anything positive about digital downloads ;)

Neutral

Covarr @ Feb 6th 2009 2:21PM

I think it amounts to bandwidth limitations, the fact that it's often faster to buy a movie at Walmart than to wait for the download to finish, the fact that Blu-Ray offers higher video quality than downloaded HD video, and the ability to play the same blu-ray disc or DVD in multiple players.

That last one is probably one of the biggest keys. If I want to be able to watch a movie in three different rooms (not simultaneously), it's cheaper and easier to simply carry the disc to another room and put it into a second or third player, as opposed to downloaded media, which pretty much requires that you set up a media server and a device to stream it into in EVERY SINGLE ROOM.

Compare:
1 x $20 DVD + 3 x $50 DVD Players = $170.
1 x $30 Blu-Ray + 3 x $200 Blu-Ray Players = $630.
1 x $10 download movie + 3 x $200 media streaming devices (such as Xbox 360 arcade) + 1 x $150 media server + 1 x $50 router + 4 x $10 Ethernet cable = $850.

Also, keep in mind, a media server takes much more effort to set up. You can cut the cost of the media server down to as low as $50 if you use salvaged parts from other machines and use Linux instead of windows, but even so it's the most expensive and difficult option if you want to play a movie in different rooms of the same house. Furthermore, it leaves no option for bringing a movie to a friends house, and if your hard drive fills up, you've gotta delete something or buy another hard drive.

I don't see physical media disappearing at all. Optical discs may eventually be replaced with DRM-laden USB or flash-based media, but the convenience and portability of physical media can't be matched by downloaded media.

Neutral

michael @ Feb 6th 2009 3:11PM

I completely agree. I have no doubt downloads will replace rentals but for most people who are going to buy the movie to watch over and over they will overwhelmingly prefer physical media. Even those with media centers won't easily leave physical media behind if nothing more then to have a back up for when their hard drive crashes and they loose all the movies they've bought or ripped (legality be damned).

Neutral

Jimmy @ Feb 7th 2009 12:03PM

Something else you are forgetting. The $10 download can only be played on a limited number of devices or a limited number of times. It can not be loaned to friends and it cannot be resold when you are bored with it. You are also have to pay the monthly internet connection that is mandatory for downloads.

Neutral

Jonsson @ Feb 6th 2009 2:35PM

You may be right on that one. Sounds more likely.

I still feels it's a wee bit of propaganda/sales talk though. No studios (except possibly Chinese ones) would support this format. So their only market could then be China.

So if they want to make a profit out of this it would be on the home market. Not very likely that they would make much more profit out of that.

Neutral

Jonsson @ Feb 6th 2009 2:41PM

Something strange is really going on. This post seems to surface in just about every thread where I make a reply. I have no clue why it's popping up everywhere ???

Neutral

Craig @ Feb 6th 2009 4:27PM

I dont know... i tend to be of the other opinion, I dont think I would ever exclusively download movies and watch them through a media centre. Too much can go wrong, what happens if the media centre (PS3, XBOX or some type of PC connected to my tv) gets fried do I lose all my movies (downloaded legally) stored on the hard drive... will I be able to re-download them for free, even if I can how long would that take... or will my content be saved online somewhere and I watch it on demand from anywhere?

The latter would be much better but in either case if I want to bring a movie over to a friends house I have to unhook some media player (something the size of a PS3), pack it up, transport it and reconnect it at someone's house. And after all that what if they dont have a high speed internet connection? Will it work without that.

Or what if I get bored of a movie, with a physical disc I can sell it, trade it with someone or let someone borrow it, will this be possible with downloadable content... a second hand file?

It sounds perfect but when I take a step back and think of the logistics and problems that could pop up it doesnt seem so great.

Neutral

minimalist @ Feb 6th 2009 10:16PM

"It sounds perfect but when I take a step back and think of the logistics and problems that could pop up it doesnt seem so great"

The gulf between the IDEA of digital downloads/streaming and the REALITY is immense.

Neutral

Jonsson @ Feb 7th 2009 8:35AM

Neutral

GhostDoggy @ Feb 7th 2009 10:24AM

I'm not sure they'll ever need to face fear in this economy. Broadband access providers will continue to push bandwidth caps and throttling-style network management for the sole purpose of prevent and discouraging their Internet users from getting their video content from anyone else but them.

Got CAPS?

Neutral

minimalist @ Feb 7th 2009 12:13PM

The FCC needs to take a good hard look at how cable companies are exempting their own content from these caps yet their competitors content is subjected to them. Either the caps get applied to everything that passes over the network or it doesn't.

Cable company shenanigans and the control freak habits of the greedy content providers are the biggest hurdle digital downloads need to overcome to become truly mainstream. Its not really a technological problem. Its all about political power plays.

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