INCEPTION And KNIGHT AND DAY Are First Releases At Premium DVD Kiosks… But Will Consumers Pay More?
Beginning on Tuesday, movie fans have the option to rent INCEPTION and KNIGHT AND DAY at select Blockbuster Express kiosks, 28 days before Netflix or Redbox. The only thing is you’ll pay $3 for the first night you have the disc.
The films are being offered through NCR-operated Blockbuster Express kiosks with a special “premium” price of $3 for the first night, then the usual $1 for additional nights. The premium kiosks will be tested in San Francisco, Phoenix, Miami, and Atlanta. NCR’s new pricing is to see if film fans will be willing to pay more for a DVD rental the day it goes on sale, instead of waiting the 28 days that is the norm for DVD kiosk rentals.
20th Century Fox and Universal studios have signed new deals with NCR that will hold back their DVDs from the Blockbuster Express kiosks until the films have had 28 days in the retail market, in hopes that the delay will boost DVD sales. In return for the 28 day wait, the studios are selling their movies to NCR (and Redbox and Netflix) at HIGHLY discounted prices.
While NCR (which owns the Blockbuster Express kiosks, but not Blockbuster Inc) has not struck a deal with Warner Bros. yet, they still released Inception through their premium test because “we felt like that was an appropriate title to include in the test.”
The four test cities are the only areas that will have the two films in the Express kiosks, so those outside these areas will have to trudge to our local Blockbuster store, buy the DVDs out right, or wait 28 days.
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