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Warner Bros. for sale, D2D with new owner?

I just dropped $50 on my remaining D2D WB offers, even some movies I am pretty sure I will never watch again!
 
DLCPhoto said:
Realistically, if the end result is losing D2D access, how quickly would that happen?
Click to expand...
If it were Netflix, I’d expect to lose the movies full stop so D2D wouldn’t even be a factor and thinking you could revert to discs, those would all disappear too once out of print and your only option would be the low quality stream direct from Netflix. The fact they have to pay out for WB would also mean a big bump to the subscription price, I’d fully expect the top tier option just to get 4K and lossy Atmos would be $30+/m on a continually rising scale to maximise Netflix profits.

Netflix would literally be the death knell of “owning” WB movies at home in the highest quality because they will do everything to maximise subscriptions.

Maybe I should start looking into buying up disc stock for when they inevitably become rare $100+ purchases 😂.
 
Furnace Inferno said:
If it were Netflix, I’d expect to lose the movies full stop so D2D wouldn’t even be a factor and thinking you could revert to discs, those would all disappear too once out of print and your only option would be the low quality stream direct from Netflix. The fact they have to pay out for WB would also mean a big bump to the subscription price, I’d fully expect the top tier option just to get 4K and lossy Atmos would be $30+/m on a continually rising scale to maximise Netflix profits.

Netflix would literally be the death knell of “owning” WB movies at home in the highest quality because they will do everything to maximise subscriptions.

Maybe I should start looking into buying up disc stock for when they inevitably become rare $100+ purchases 😂.
Click to expand...
Are you saying that I would lose access to any D2D Warner Brother movies I had already purchased, if not downloaded to a server? And/or that I would lose access to any WB movies even if they were already downloaded?
 
DLCPhoto said:
Are you saying that I would lose access to any D2D Warner Brother movies I had already purchased, if not downloaded to a server? And/or that I would lose access to any WB movies even if they were already downloaded?
Click to expand...
No, as in you wouldn’t be able to purchase any you haven’t already bought because they would remove the films from all other digital stores.
 
DrTechBull said:
I’m increasingly worried, as it appears Netflix is becoming the top contender to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. If that happens, there’s a real possibility they could pull Warner Bros. content from Kaleidescape to make it exclusive to Netflix. Such a move could be devastating for the industry.
Click to expand...
2024 home video revenue estimates had the following breakdown: Digital Sales 4.1%, Digital Rentals 2.9%, Physical Product 1.7%. The remaining 91.3% is streaming, which Netflix is already a part of. So, killing the portion of WB that's in the 7% would likely seem like nothing to Netflix and just good business sense.
 
DLCPhoto said:
Are you saying that I would lose access to any D2D Warner Brother movies I had already purchased, if not downloaded to a server? And/or that I would lose access to any WB movies even if they were already downloaded?
Click to expand...
The most likely scenario is that Netflix would begin to pull back on digital sales/rentals. I supposed they could pull everything overnight, but this would only happen after the acquisition is final and I wouldn't be surprised if they would "leak" such an action to pocket some last minute revenue.

And, again, yes they could demand every digital vendor remove titles from libraries and kill playback for downloads but I think that's incredibly unlikely. Let people have what they paid for, and just funnel future viewers through your subscriptions. Who cares if grand-pappy wants to hold onto his iTunes purchase of Batman? You know, the "good" one. No, the other "good" one. No... you kids just don't understand...
 
LoveCinema said:
The most likely scenario is that Netflix would begin to pull back on digital sales/rentals. I supposed they could pull everything overnight, but this would only happen after the acquisition is final and I wouldn't be surprised if they would "leak" such an action to pocket some last minute revenue.

And, again, yes they could demand every digital vendor remove titles from libraries and kill playback for downloads but I think that's incredibly unlikely. Let people have what they paid for, and just funnel future viewers through your subscriptions. Who cares if grand-pappy wants to hold onto his iTunes purchase of Batman? You know, the "good" one. No, the other "good" one. No... you kids just don't understand...
Click to expand...
I think they’d love to pull previous digital downloads but even they know full well the fallout out from that and the class action lawsuit economically wouldn’t be gained back by doing so.

Really what they will be salivating over is LOTR, DC, HP, GoT, Looney Tunes, all things with universes ripe for many, many new TV series.

Knives Out is a prime example of the fuckery they will do though, release in theatres when they are contractually obligated to, then lockdown to Netflix only. The only reason the original Knives Out didn’t get removed is because they don’t own it.
 
LoveCinema said:
The most likely scenario is that Netflix would begin to pull back on digital sales/rentals. I supposed they could pull everything overnight, but this would only happen after the acquisition is final and I wouldn't be surprised if they would "leak" such an action to pocket some last minute revenue.

And, again, yes they could demand every digital vendor remove titles from libraries and kill playback for downloads but I think that's incredibly unlikely. Let people have what they paid for, and just funnel future viewers through your subscriptions. Who cares if grand-pappy wants to hold onto his iTunes purchase of Batman? You know, the "good" one. No, the other "good" one. No... you kids just don't understand...
Click to expand...
Thanks. Just to clarify this fully: if I do D2D purchases for the titles I'm interested in, but I don't have the server space to actually download them, is it likely I would still be able to download them, since I had already purchased them?

I realize you don't have a crystal ball, but your perspective is still welcome.
 
DLCPhoto said:
Thanks. Just to clarify this fully: if I do D2D purchases for the titles I'm interested in, but I don't have the server space to actually download them, is it likely I would still be able to download them, since I had already purchased them?
Click to expand...
That's the most likely scenario, yes.

I learned very early to jump on Warner titles. In my first couple of months with K I saw titles disappear from my wishlist before I picked them up. I still regret not grabbing Raised By Wolves Seasons 1 & 2 before Warner shipped them to the negative zone for no apparent reason.
 
DLCPhoto said:
Thanks. Just to clarify this fully: if I do D2D purchases for the titles I'm interested in, but I don't have the server space to actually download them, is it likely I would still be able to download them, since I had already purchased them?

I realize you don't have a crystal ball, but your perspective is still welcome.
Click to expand...

You would still have access to anything you purchased in the Store, regardless of whether or not it was downloaded.

Jim
 
Just in case anyone is curious, it was requested by a friend (we worked some trials together in the past) that I delete my earlier comments regarding the ongoing M&A talk related to Warner, which I did above. My bad, I made some comments that should not have been public.

Jim
 
dnoonie said:
Don't forget the WB titles in your Wish List. Those would be good to purchase as well.

Happy movie viewing!
Click to expand...
I’ve literally just gone through all the WB films to decide which ones are worth buying for the best quality. I’ve left the ones that I already didn’t mind seeing on streaming since they don’t need the highest quality for what they are.

I would hope it will be a while before anything gets removed if Netflix do secure it. I need F1, The Accountant and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest to go on sale and added Twister which must surely have decent audio and “Her” which looks like it’s reviewed well but never seen it.
 
The latest news says Netflix has won and they’ve entered formal negotiations. Great. This is still a long way from the finish line, but I see nothing encouraging here as both a physical and digital collector. Oh well.
 
Furnace Inferno said:
I’ve literally just gone through all the WB films to decide which ones are worth buying for the best quality. I’ve left the ones that I already didn’t mind seeing on streaming since they don’t need the highest quality for what they are.

I would hope it will be a while before anything gets removed if Netflix do secure it. I need F1, The Accountant and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest to go on sale and added Twister which must surely have decent audio and “Her” which looks like it’s reviewed well but never seen it.
Click to expand...
Hum?! I got F1 and Superman for $10 each on 1080 BD, for the lower price after D2D, and for the digital code to have the Extras that K' is missing. Well, that brings up a problem, will my Extras on Fandango and Movies Anywhere go away with this sale? At least I'll still have the Extras on disk.

Happy movie viewing!
 
Another perspective:
I didn´t see the fact taken into account into the previous discussion, that the K store content is based on the digital release, not the disk release.
So with disks disappearing, the source for K releases would not seep down.
It could be an additional income stream for Netflix. But of course I could also be wrong and Netflix sees K as a competitor and just cuts the line.
 
DieZwei said:
Another perspective:
I didn´t see the fact taken into account into the previous discussion, that the K store content is based on the digital release, not the disk release.
So with disks disappearing, the source for K releases would not seep down.
It could be an additional income stream for Netflix. But of course I could also be wrong and Netflix sees K as a competitor and just cuts the line.
Click to expand...
Yes. Who knows, maybe Netflix will use Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to release their originals on physical discs under the WBD banner. They’ve already released some of their earlier originals, like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, on Blu-ray through various studios. After acquiring they’ll have their own setup to tap into the physical media market. If they’ve already shifted their strategy to allow certain WBD titles to have theatrical releases first, then it makes sense for them to maintain their existing digital-sale contracts as well, especially their deal with K. Hopefully they won’t make any changes to their digital sale agreements. Fingers crossed 🤞
 
I thought it interesting that when I looked through my wish list Warner Brothers was the studio for only a few of the movies.
 
DrTechBull said:
Yes. Who knows, maybe Netflix will use Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to release their originals on physical discs under the WBD banner. They’ve already released some of their earlier originals, like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, on Blu-ray through various studios. After acquiring they’ll have their own setup to tap into the physical media market. If they’ve already shifted their strategy to allow certain WBD titles to have theatrical releases first, then it makes sense for them to maintain their existing digital-sale contracts as well, especially their deal with K. Hopefully they won’t make any changes to their digital sale agreements. Fingers crossed 🤞
Click to expand...
The problem is the only examples of anything Netflix exclusive getting a physical or digital release elsewhere are all things they never actually owned themselves and were just licensed. All the above were Marvel/ABC and got pulled to Disney+ the moment the license lapsed.

They have also had plenty of movies with theatrical releases but they don’t actually care about revenue stream from it. They do a short theatrical window and then pull them straight to Netflix never to be watchable anywhere else. Most recent example Knives Out 3 and this is direct from their website:
The film lands in select theaters starting Nov. 26 before landing on Netflix Dec. 12.
Click to expand...
So 16 days in “select” theatres and then gone so you’ve only got another week to watch it in the best cinema you can before the Netflix streaming version is the best quality you can watch it in, same as Glass Onion!

There is nothing to suggest that they will do anything other than remove them from everywhere else because ultimately their sole concern is pulling in subscribers on recurring subs because it makes them, as the only properly profitable streaming platform more $$$ by getting more subscribers.

They have literally zero interest in sticking to the old ways of operating and from a business perspective, why would they when they are making insane money that everyone else is clamouring to get in on.

The sad thing to admit is, it will probably result in better films for the DC Universe and a lot of the things the WB management screwed but we’ll just never be able to watch them at home in any higher quality than shitty streaming which is what really sucks the most about it.

Also anyone thinking they could make more money selling elsewhere, think about this. They could sell a disc/digital copy for $20 which you can then watch as many times as you please elsewhere. Now imagine something like Klaus, only available on Netflix, your kids love it and now you watch it every year at Christmas. You don’t sub to Netflix but if you want to watch it in 4K you now have to pay $24.99 every single year minimum and that is all profit to Netflix with no one else taking anything.

As soon as you breakdown the model into basics it’s obvious why and it’s not like Amazon or Apple who’s streaming services are basically just side hustles to their main business and are happy to release elsewhere or Disney that love merchandising to funnel you into all their other bits.

There is literally no benefit to Netflix profits to release elsewhere. Anyway I’m rambling now, sad times!
 
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