We only have ourselves to blame? - well, maybe.
To be sure, there are a handful of contributing causes for the downturn in packaged media sales. In no particular order:
- sluggish economy
- mature product (DVD)
- piracy
- voluntary drop in price points
Number four is probably the least discussed. But i’ve been LONG saying it’s a harmful practice. Even the revenue sharing deals for large rental outlets is a poison pill. But the short term boon was always enough to encourage people to turn a blind eye.
At the Independent Film & Television Alliance Production Conference, Bill Mechanic spoke directly on this very subject. Who is Bill Mechanic? What are his credentials? Among other things, he was the CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment and the head of Disney’s video division.
Here are a teaser of his comments:
“I get asked a lot if the problems [of declining DVD sales] are systemic. My answer is: not necessarily. That we would reach a point of maturation in DVD is natural and logical, but too much of the downturn is completely self-imposed.
Like much of the bad decision making that has helped take a lot of the profit out of the business, the air was let out of the tires by the studios themselves. No top management of a studio really cared what was going on over the past few years other than was their budget being met.”
Read Marcy Magiera’s full article from Video Business magazine here.