Comcast, Disney Embrace Faster Home Video Release Windows In Wake Of COVID-19

Comcast, Disney Embrace Faster Home Video Release Windows In Wake Of COVID-19

4 years ago
Anonymous $9CO2RSACsf

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20200317/09081544116/comcast-disney-embrace-faster-home-video-release-windows-wake-covid-19.shtml

There's a growing list of things that the COVID-19 crisis has exposed as unnecessary nonsense. Broadband usage caps come first to mind, followed quickly by a lingering disdain for telecommuting by a long list of executives. But the outbreak is also shining a light on another dumb practice that has long been a point of contention: Hollywood movie release windows.

For the better part of a decade now, we've highlighted Hollywood's often vicious opposition to disrupting the traditional delay between a film's theatrical debut, and its release on home video or streaming platforms. Companies like Netflix that have attempted to disrupt this system have traditionally been quickly demonized by the industry. AMC, Regal and Cinemark have all fought tooth and nail to preserve the (usually) 90 day restriction period between a film's theater release and its availability to home consumers, even if such restrictions no longer make much sense in the broadband era.