How Studios Are Losing Billions By Pushing Streaming Instead of Physical Media

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  • Опубліковано 9 січ 2025

КОМЕНТАРІ • 114

  • @jimwoodswrites
    @jimwoodswrites Рік тому +96

    I'm so sick of paying more each month for streaming and then some movies and shows disappear or move to brand new streaming platforms. Long live physical media!

    • @shelly_lee
      @shelly_lee Рік тому +4

      preach!!! and amen to that!

    • @FR4M3Sharma
      @FR4M3Sharma 10 місяців тому +1

      Not only that the quality is way worse than paying for a BluRay.

  • @DriveupLife22
    @DriveupLife22 Рік тому +94

    I'm reminded of a story of a businessman in the mid 2000s who wanted to buy a warehouse in Ohio. Inside this derelict space was a ton of vinyl record stamping machines. The businessman told the owner, "sell me this space and I'll get rid of these old machines for you." The old owner, thinking physical media was "dead" happily agreed. He got the building at a discount, and now its a vinyl pressing plant again and he's making millions.

    • @Matanumi
      @Matanumi Рік тому

      Vinyl come back is insane and kind of unusual

    • @williamhopper6602
      @williamhopper6602 Рік тому +2

      And vinyl sucks Overpriced and overhyped and still wears out

  • @FreezeInfinite
    @FreezeInfinite Рік тому +68

    I think as people realize streaming is so temporary and you own nothing, physical will come back stronger. There will be a balance between physical and streaming.

    • @WonkaWillE
      @WonkaWillE Рік тому +15

      This comment gives me jedi prophecy vibes.

    • @michaeldietz2648
      @michaeldietz2648 Рік тому +10

      I think it’s already begunI see a lot more people buying movies lately in my Bestbuys

    • @robertt9342
      @robertt9342 Рік тому +1

      It won’t happen…. It will take a collapse of access to change direction. There is just of much inertia.

    • @michaeldietz2648
      @michaeldietz2648 Рік тому +11

      @@robertt9342 you are incorrect physical movies have been starting to sell a lot more!!! Look at all the major studios releasing old movies in 4K. People are also starting to catch on that streaming quality is trash compared to natively playing disc. Even a standard Blu-ray looks better than Disney+ and hBO’s fake 4K stream.

    • @therealjaystone2344
      @therealjaystone2344 Рік тому

      @@michaeldietz2648physical media aren’t really preservation tbh for they degrade too unless you pirate

  • @vanceshepherd1618
    @vanceshepherd1618 Рік тому +33

    They want streaming for the same reason ebooks exploded in popularity. Maybe partially because you will be CONSTANTLY distracted. But I think the real reason is to have digital control (nefarious editing as seen with Disney's The French Connection), over the product, as well as having the ability to track everything you watch. It's a great way to build a social credit profile.

    • @ShanghaiRooster
      @ShanghaiRooster Рік тому +6

      Having a tab on what customers buy is obviously part of it for these giant corporations, as it makes it easier for them to target those people with what they hope they'll also buy (but suggesting it's a CCP style social credit profile thing for a capitalist entity is OTT), but there's a second thing for them. If a customer buys a blu-ray/4K/DVD they pay once and it's theirs for as long as they wish to keep it; with streaming services the customer has to keep paying out each month in order to retain access to the stuff they've 'bought'.

    • @austinwillcut4919
      @austinwillcut4919 Рік тому +3

      @@ShanghaiRooster And that's why it's evil.

  • @metalgrinch
    @metalgrinch Рік тому +11

    If you ask me, EVERY physical film release should come in a Collectors edition format - slipcase (possibly hardcover), audio commentaries, interviews, trailers, extras, digital copies, disc artwork, paper inserts or booklet, and even possibly reversible art. If all major studios did this people would buy it, because they're getting more for their money, not just the film. By releasing bare bones copies, buyers are not seeing the incentive and choose streaming whether or not it goes away in a month.

    • @robertt9342
      @robertt9342 Рік тому

      People wouldn’t buy it… I wouldn’t buy it…. That only caters to the smallest sliver of the physical buy niche.

    • @Darkrezta
      @Darkrezta Рік тому

      @@robertt9342 but that's not what happen. did you watched the entire video. there is a hugeee demand from all of these physical media and the one who fulfilling is not the studios but the pirates.

  • @Lona_Chess
    @Lona_Chess Рік тому +18

    Great video! What upsets me most about streaming companies is how often they refuse to release even their most popular shows on blu ray or 4K. They can't make a strong argument that doing so would hurt their subscriber numbers *that* much. They're already releasing some shows on Blu ray. If doing so damaged their bottom line too much, there would be zero Blu ray/4K new shows on disc. But that's not the case.
    I gotta believe it would help the streaming companies more financially to release their most popular shows on Blu-Ray & DVD than to not. Same for many movie exclusives.
    But the hopeful news is that the streaming business model can't exist unchanged for another 5 years. So, perhaps the changes they'll have to make will bring more physical media into the fold - both customers and releases.

    • @jonathancunningham8739
      @jonathancunningham8739 7 місяців тому

      HBO max makes physical copies along with most of Disney titles they will learn the easy way or hard way.

  • @_Tori10
    @_Tori10 Рік тому +29

    I still find it interesting that TV's being made these days are the biggest and the best they've ever been, yet streaming quality is still good at best. I am so glad disc sales are still healthy, and so many great earlier movies are getting the quality 4k and BD releases they now deserve.

  • @robstehlik3037
    @robstehlik3037 Рік тому +8

    I got rid of all my streaming services I was paying for and just stick with free ones. Having a vast physical media collection, I don’t feel the need to pay for stuff I’m not gonna watch.

  • @arunaaa301
    @arunaaa301 Рік тому +20

    Ralph seems like a guy who’d be super fun to hang around with and have great movie discussions 👍
    Studios really need guys like him again.

  • @thomas5
    @thomas5 Рік тому +17

    It's so short sighted to not give every (or almost every) movie a 4K/BD release, they have all the 4K/2K masters all that is needed is to print the discs and distribute them. The studios are losing out on so much potential profit by not releasing them physically. Hopefully they will see the error in their ways before they go bust (WB in particular)

    • @ShanghaiRooster
      @ShanghaiRooster Рік тому +1

      That might appear relatively simple when it comes to modern digitally shot movies, although even there there can be problems if a digital movie is mastered at say 2K or even lower as some older digitally made films will be. That becomes its native resolution and making a 4K version requires some kind of intelligent upscaling which will reduce image quality a touch. With film that simply doesn't arise, as the latent quality in well-maintained negatives is as high as any digital format available today (and possibly tomorrow too). All that it is needed is scanning technology to bring it out, which is expensive. The authoring software to make a 4K disc is also horrendously expensive - somewhere north of $60,000.

  • @honeycomb4588
    @honeycomb4588 Рік тому +23

    It almost feels like a game of chicken between movie studios and consumers. The studios clearly feel like streaming/digital is the profitable answer, but there are growing concerns from consumers about the quality and permanence of the movies. I feel like people are willing to do physical media, but streaming almost needs to implode and studios need to refocus efforts on it.

    • @actualnotanewbie
      @actualnotanewbie Рік тому +9

      I think more people would buy discs if the newer movies were better. Also, 4K disc sales floundering is probably because the current generation of game systems got to a slow start due to the chip shortage. Both the PS2 and the PS3 were on the forefront of making DVDs and Blu-Rays accessible, respectively.

    • @vegetarey
      @vegetarey Рік тому +4

      ​@@actualnotanewbie the xbox one s and xbox one x both supported 4K blu ray playback, but those consoles sold poorly compared to the numbers of PS4
      And i think Sony was cheap by not releasing the PS4 Pro with a 4k Blu Ray optical drive, or maybe they just didn't see a big enough market to increase the production cost of the console

    • @miz4535
      @miz4535 Рік тому +2

      @@actualnotanewbie Pretty sure PS5 is selling faster than PS3 and PS4. I guess the problem was 4k didn't coincide with a console release, unlike those other two.

    • @robertt9342
      @robertt9342 Рік тому

      ⁠@@actualnotanewbie. This has a sense of someone out of touch with the market. The quality of film and tv is not worse than the last 40 years, and the consoles wouldn’t put a dent in sales. There’s a reason why dvd is still the top seller despite blurays being launched around the same time as a ps3.
      The market demand is simply changing, owning media isn’t as important, and media has been commodified.

    • @taikanekkula5386
      @taikanekkula5386 Рік тому +1

      @@robertt9342 "owning media isn’t as important" To whom? Maybe to you and masses. To the rest of us (and there are more of us in numbers than media would want you to believe) who loves to own what they pay for and who are tired of later edits and censorships by the whims of studios reflecting the laughable sensibilities and other pc bs of the sad times we are living in (and for several other reasons mentioned here and on related channels), it is now more important than it has ever been.

  • @maniacsatwork
    @maniacsatwork Рік тому +3

    For the last 3yrs I signed up to Netflix, Prime and the local ones here in AUS such as Stan and Binge, and I've now cancelled all of them. I just find that most of the content on there, especially TV Series, isn't worth watching. I still have a large physical collection that will keep me entertained for years to come. Thank god that companies such as Umbrella, Shout and various others are putting in the effort of releasing special editions and collector's editions for movie fans that will never give up on physical media. The only streaming service that I dip in and out of is Shudder because my fav genre is horror.

  • @Terry.W
    @Terry.W Рік тому +16

    Raiph makes a lot of sense ...I think streaming has almost reached it's natural growth..so the only way for them is to raise prices....

    • @robertt9342
      @robertt9342 Рік тому +1

      That’s the end game, but they first need to merge more.

  • @Theomite
    @Theomite Рік тому +3

    A friend of mine was talking about this a few weeks ago, and when I mentioned to him that I was baffled that the revenue losses didn't make the studios change course, he looked at me and said "The only thing corporations care about more than money is control. They'll spent a dollar to count a nickel just to make sure they're the ones getting it. If they're knowingly losing money, it's not about money, it's about control. That's what you gotta figure out: how it works that way."
    I won't share what else he told me about how it would work because I'm terrified about putting that idea out in the ether provided it hasn't happened already. He says that it has, but I don't wanna take the risk.

  • @TheAlexZorba
    @TheAlexZorba Рік тому +19

    We the film collectors and lovers must find the silver lining in this. I have found that watching these studios especially disney burn their companies to the ground to be one of lifes simple pleasures.

    • @ShanghaiRooster
      @ShanghaiRooster Рік тому +2

      Quite so. We just have to hope that after the fall what appears to have been lost can be recovered and restored.

  • @gameoverwehaveeverypixelco1258

    Here in Australia i worked retail that sold dvds, they sold well, even low budget movies, but then for no reason they cut back most of the dvds, now they hardly sell any titles despite how well they were selling, its insane. Why ruin a good thing.

  • @300baud
    @300baud Рік тому +4

    Physical media sales were bound to decline when streaming began to emerge. However, studios let physical media sales dwindle rapidly by not lowering the price of physical media to balance the scales with streaming services. Instead they held fast to their greedy ways ensuring the slow painful death of physical media.

  • @ThornTheaterReviews
    @ThornTheaterReviews Рік тому +4

    I was just having this conversation with a friend the other day that they should first bring the movies to Blu-ray and then streaming at a later date but literally things are being available for streaming first then Blu-ray which kills the need to want to buy it in the first place.

  • @Lexy-O
    @Lexy-O Рік тому +5

    I’m seeing a lot of Physical Media pirates jumping in and selling all the Marvel shows and animation and Star Wars shows and animation that people want. I don’t buy it myself but it’s exposing and untapped tip of the iceberg on demand for the physical media market.
    A company like Disney could be making a per unit profit equal to the monthly subscription fee for Disney plus. They could sell via their own label, in house DMC, or licensing to the fine boutique labels like (my favorite) Kino Lorber… They are literally ignoring a huge market because of the rhetoric about streaming being current. Yet here we are in 2023 with Vinyl, CD coming back, blu ray resurrected via boutiques, books are still popular including the rise of the Omnibus and collected editions.
    All of this is showing how some very intuitive individuals have found ways to reach the customer base and provide great customer service.
    Organic Price Books is a great example. They specialize in the comics collect editions and provide the best packing and shipping experience.We need an Organic Price Books like company for the rest of physical media (blu ray, other books, CD and vinyl) because Amazon is damaging everything, shipping them in plastic bags or worse.

    • @codyw1
      @codyw1 Рік тому

      Good for the pirates, I say. If these a-hole companies won't give the consumer what they want, others will. Nature abhors a vacuum.

  • @michaelvandegriend7269
    @michaelvandegriend7269 Рік тому +4

    Here in Canada Netflix quietly eliminated the basic tier package. You can't pump millions of dollars ito content and Wright it off. This is a shortsighted way of doing business. You need to have more than one arm of the business bringing in the money. Netflix has to make their orginal more accessible not hold it hostage. They may as well be gollum" my precious". You can't force people to to join your streaming service.

    • @iPhone-su8li
      @iPhone-su8li 11 місяців тому

      It's discontinued here in the UK too but because I get my Netflix through Sky TV it's still Basic without Ads lol

  • @Gedi2211
    @Gedi2211 Рік тому +1

    I came to this after hearing Disney was going to discontinue physical media sales in Australian and New Zealand. I'm disappointed in them. When it comes to physical media, if there is a film or tv show I really love, I will gladly buy it on DVD or Blu-ray, or 4K. I pray for a time where Physical Media and Streaming can continue to coexist.

  • @linewalker
    @linewalker Рік тому +6

    Why don't they offer both streaming AND physical media? More patrons, more profit.

    • @linewalker
      @linewalker Рік тому +2

      @stonesfan285 Physical media is available in multiple formats and re-issues and often goto for recouping poor boxoffice. Streaming services bank on monthly subs.

  • @summerrr1
    @summerrr1 Рік тому +1

    The reason they do it is because streaming = subscription model plus access to data. Subscription revenues are consistent and more attractive to investors.

  • @erickvoshel1
    @erickvoshel1 Рік тому +5

    Hello Cereal At Midnight,
    Have you read about the constant purging of titles from streaming services in the past few days? Parmount Plus has purged a lot of great content, including a "Star Trek" series, so not even franchises that are proven successes are safe. And it's causing a backlash. If they keep this up, I have a feeling streaming may not survive. This is why we need physical media now more than ever. What are your thoughts?

    • @CerealAtMidnight
      @CerealAtMidnight  Рік тому +5

      Yes, it's awful. I've been covering it on social media and it seems like every day one of the streaming services is removing shows and writing them off for a tax break. It was news when Disney did it a month or so ago, but now it's happening every week. If a show isn't getting views, the studio is erasing it from existence and writing it off to reduce their tax bill. Creators are very, very upset and more and more customers and fans are speaking out about it.

  • @maniacsatwork
    @maniacsatwork Рік тому +7

    And of course, with physical media, you get the commentary which is sorely lacking on the streaming services.

    • @markpugh6808
      @markpugh6808 Рік тому

      I don't use it anyway I watch a film to hear the dialogue and action of the film not have it drowned out by the director and actors waffling over it

  • @bruh_hahaha
    @bruh_hahaha Рік тому +4

    I buy and OWN every movie I love on physical media. Nothing any of these streamers offer will change that.

  • @roachman1412
    @roachman1412 11 місяців тому +1

    I just watched Tremors on 4k disc in the special features they mentioned it failed at the box office it vhs rentals and sales that made profit and it became a classic i don't think that would happened with streaming people would scroll pass it now it's fun franchise to see

  • @Jay828__
    @Jay828__ Рік тому +9

    Tax write offs aside, companies see Netflix streaming blowing up and think "That's our money & our product!". Remember these are the people who wanted DivX(one time watch DVDs, not the codex) and weren't happy with used DVD/CD shops. Streaming was sold as a constant revenue source with tighter control over their product. How well did classic/back catalog only streaming services work out? They didn't. Original programming was needed.
    There's also current ideology like environmentalists who are anti-plastic and would love to see physical media die. And for the more "conspiracy" minded, streaming delivers even more ability to constantly distract the masses, censor/alter content, collect personal data and deliver on the motto "You'll own nothing and be happy"

  • @jaysgamingcorner8539
    @jaysgamingcorner8539 Рік тому +5

    Streaming was always a bewildering idea, at least for the consumer. Why willingly hand over what little control you had to the corporations? Streaming is just a new way to rent movies/shows.

  • @beermarshal2070
    @beermarshal2070 Рік тому

    I find it all very weird myself, but I think the most obvious answer is that studios are focused on the youth market (as they have been for decades), and the conventional wisdom is that young people don't want to own physical media. In my experience there's some truth to that - nearly all of the collectors I know or interact with are over 50, and that's regardless of income or other criteria - younger people are more used to just watching things on their phones or *maybe* tablets, not typically interested in extras or nice collectible packages, and used to streaming as the natural way to go. This, combined with the fact that only a smal portion of people of all ages have ever been interested in "old" stuff (when I worked at video stores, old meant that it had been on video for more than 2 weeks)... and you get a world where they only want to promote brand-new stuff, on streaming, and want to keep that exciting for people so they keep up their subscriptions. The rest just isn't worth it to them, so it seems.

  • @imawesome7777
    @imawesome7777 Рік тому +2

    I am all about owning discs physically. But on studios perspective physical disc sale numbers have dropped so much, so I understand that point of view also. I personally have very niche taste, but when I see mainstream movie titles (on blu-ray) in supermarkets on sale for 25 eur... I am pretty confused, who should actually buy those with that price?

    • @Darkrezta
      @Darkrezta Рік тому +1

      watched the entire video. sales numbers is not dropping but instead still huge but the one who fulfilling it is not the studio but the pirates.

  • @respecttheface7152
    @respecttheface7152 Рік тому +5

    🎉can't wait till streaming is "dead" personally🎉

  • @johnylitalo4163
    @johnylitalo4163 Рік тому +5

    I support physical media.

  • @erinrising2799
    @erinrising2799 Рік тому +3

    with the ongoing writers strike I can't help but think that the reason the studios are pushing for streaming is so they won't have to pay the talent (writers, actors, etc) as much. I suspect they still have to pay them for physical copies sold.

    • @johnpublic7796
      @johnpublic7796 Рік тому +8

      With the quality of releases over the last several years, I say let the writers stay on permanent strike. If they never made another film or show again, I couldn't care less. There's already more good stuff out there than I'll ever see in my lifetime.

    • @miz4535
      @miz4535 Рік тому

      @@johnpublic7796 That's a really shitty attitude. If you think that people have just all suddenly lost their talents in writing, you are delusional. It's much more about the way the business is being run than anything else, and if you did 5 min of research you could find out what it is.

    • @mbowsher76
      @mbowsher76 Рік тому +1

      @@johnpublic7796 That is true. We have all been taught to constantly be looking forward to new releases when there is 100+ years of fantastic films and shows to go back and discover. I recently came to the decision to stop worrying about modern film and TV and dive back into finding new treasures from the past.

  • @excitebike64
    @excitebike64 Рік тому +2

    Haven't even watched the video yet, but this has been my point. Investors want this future, and consumers be damned.

  • @delticrobo
    @delticrobo Рік тому +2

    Physical media produces more jobs. Not just disc manufacturers but dvd/blu ray players manufacturing. This then needs printing manufactures, distributors, shops and interaction with people going out and browsing such material. Streaming is not the way. I have never bought into streaming and want to buy dvd's & blu rays. Sadly we've just lost Network UK, because of streaming???

  • @Hadam10Rose
    @Hadam10Rose Рік тому +3

    Did you ever see "the Producer's"? "You can make more money with a.flop then with a hit"

    • @garethmorgan8326
      @garethmorgan8326 Рік тому

      That is the core principle of Star Trek Discovery :
      Get much more than you need from the distributor.
      Make It On The Cheap.
      Maintain that you spent all of it on the first Episodes.
      Alienate the core audience so no one will want to watch it.
      Sit on the profits from the investment while claiming a loss.
      I noticed that it was the same scheme Max Biallistock used in The Producers very early on, I mentioned it to one of the regulars on Midnight's Edge, he said 'Naw, That's Not Going On' - then a few months later another regular on there eventually came to the exact same conclusion I did long before: once HE said it it began to have legitimacy it didn't have when I called it much earlier.

  • @adthomp
    @adthomp Рік тому +1

    Streaming ongoing fees to basically rent and never owning anything it’s dead money

  • @pauladams1915
    @pauladams1915 10 місяців тому

    Surely everyone is losing out. The person who actually manufactures the discs, prints the sleeves and booklets. Also, the companies that build the machines to play them on.

  • @mataiguana5
    @mataiguana5 Рік тому +4

    I say streaming is for those lazy people who don't value cinema as an art. They watch, get distracted 90% of the movie and have bad, very bad health habits.

  • @Ephebo-ds9nq
    @Ephebo-ds9nq Рік тому +1

    the ONLY positive of streaming is more space in house. thats it.

  • @mikesilva3868
    @mikesilva3868 Рік тому +2

    🤗well said

  • @gerardcrabb4556
    @gerardcrabb4556 Рік тому +1

    Hope Disney realises it's a mistake they can make up some profits by keeping physical media when people skip cinema to watch at home...

  • @tbc9096
    @tbc9096 Рік тому

    Amazing how streaming services have gaslit people into thinking their services are better than owning the real thing.

  • @iPhone-su8li
    @iPhone-su8li 11 місяців тому

    I hope physical media never goes away

  • @karanvirkooner1993
    @karanvirkooner1993 Рік тому +1

    good reason why I prefer to avoid streaming services

  • @seangerant653
    @seangerant653 Рік тому +1

    yes ....weird ....maybe i dont know !!

  • @mexmexican8619
    @mexmexican8619 Рік тому +2

    Adding all the unskippable fbi warnings and extraneous advertising has really turned me off of physical media

  • @jrlangdon89
    @jrlangdon89 Рік тому

    Then buy physical

    • @jameswatson5807
      @jameswatson5807 Рік тому +1

      The thing is some people can not afford it, streaming is cheaper.

  • @9latinumStudioz
    @9latinumStudioz Рік тому

    They need to kill off DVDs
    4ks are too expensive to ever really take off 🚀

  • @Phil-pq4ks
    @Phil-pq4ks Рік тому

    There is absolutely NO internet on the planet at residential homes where streaming can compete soundwise and definitely screenwise with a physical disc. Christ even a new, pristine VHS would be better than streaming. No streaming escapes the potential dreaded "black" areas that just become a black blob. Stop being so damn lazy. Get up and go change a disc.

    • @CerealAtMidnight
      @CerealAtMidnight  Рік тому

      I don't disagree about the value of discs (this is my video and my message is clear), but some streaming can look pretty good under the right conditions. I would never say a VHS looks better than streaming. I have fiber optic internet and a good high speed stream can get close to 4K quality. If your streaming looks that bad, it's likely due to a poor connection speed.

  • @SamOlds2999
    @SamOlds2999 Рік тому

    100th comment 10500th

  • @RobotPorter
    @RobotPorter Рік тому +2

    The peak of DVD revenues were $16.3 billion and that was way back in '05, while revenues from streaming services in 2022 were $30.3 billion. Which out-paced even the most optimistic year-on-year forecasts for the sector. Physical media has its place. It isn't going anywhere. It also brings in a couple of billions a year. Now, let's stop talking about this nonsense. And talk about movies and television shows instead. They, ultimately, are what this channel should all be about.

    • @revgen11
      @revgen11 Рік тому +9

      It's not about revenue, it's about profit. As Ralph mentioned, when DVD's cost only a few cents to manufacture a disc while selling it at retail for 15 to 20 dollars a pop, the profit margins are huge. Streaming doesn't have the same inexpensive overhead that physical media has. Could that change in the future? Sure, but why lose money over it?

    • @CerealAtMidnight
      @CerealAtMidnight  Рік тому +16

      I love people telling me what my channel should be about. I'l continue to talk about anything and everything that interests me.

  • @johnkent-h7g
    @johnkent-h7g Рік тому +5

    streaming you dont onw these movies you pay to watch them

  • @zztop7000
    @zztop7000 3 місяці тому

    Agree 100% bluray is disappearing it's in the middle unlike DVD is doing GREAT continue to dominate. While Ultra HD is just getting started getting bigger. Manufacturers is releasing more dvd and Ultra HD is attracting more buyers the growth of this two continues. Also manufacturer cannot support 3 different formats too much money.

  • @zztop7000
    @zztop7000 3 місяці тому

    I'm NOT buying bluray at this time specially if James Bond comes out on Ultra HD more newer releases are coming Ultra HD plus DVD is dirt cheap. I think DVD is killing bluray because consumers have two options dvd is dirt cheap while Ultra HD is the best high-end for movies collectors. If you want the best ultra HD while dvd if you want the cheapest and save more money for Ultra-Hd. This newer Ultra HD player also have upscale for dvd gives new life to dvd.