Let’s talk blu ray release schedules

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Blu Ray

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$$$$$$$$

I remember when movies were in release for over a year (Star Wars, ET, Raiders)

Or those of us who live in the sticks and cant stream unlimited amounts of data for movies. But I also like to have physical copies of stuff I really enjoy.

Eh.... the market for physical media is still absolutely huge. On top of digital technology lagging seriously behind, there’s some ownership issues with digital media that are...... very concerning

You don’t own anything that you stream.

You don’t own anything in your house unless the government allows you to. What’s the difference

I don't like that my digital purchases (thru amazon prime, itunes, youtube, vudu, etc..) is dependent on those businesses/streaming services staying open forever in order to watch it on my smart tv's.

Direct digital downloads to your pc seem to provide direct ownership, even tho files have to be transferred to the next pc in succession.

Now, no one foresaw digital streaming media when there was only film, vhs, dvd's, etc.. so I can imagine the next technological breakthrough (hologram conversion?) forcing a re-purchase of my whole catalogue, making my current digital catalogue an extinct relic.

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Does anyone know anything about how these schedules have been compressed?

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The schedules for everything has been compressed. It used to be a movie would be out on DVD about six months after the release date, then pop up on HBO/Showtime about a year later. Now DVDs are released about 3-4 months after the release and hit pay cable about 6-9 months later. I heard one of the reasons the window has been compressed is that it allows the initial movie marketing to help promote the DVD release.
I want to start buying more physical media again. It's a drag when you want to see a movie and you can't find it on Netflix/Amazon/Hulu/HBO/Whatever. Or its on the service that you don't subscribe to. Or you go to watch something that was on Netflix two months ago and find it drifted off the service. Or there are streaming issues. You can get DVDs and Blu-Rays for cheap. I got a DVD of Roadhouse at Target for $5.

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When I was younger i didn’t necessarily pay attention but it seems like home video took far longer to mobilize and get released.

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This goes all the way back to VHS tapes. Back in the early/mid 80's there was not really much in he way of home video ownership, so tapes were very expensive. When I worked at a video store in the early 90's, most tapes were still not at "sell through" price and we'd pay over $70 a piece for new releases. That's why if you ruined or lost a tape as a renter you were screwed. I think this also effected release schedules form studios. There was just no hurry to get them out to be rented. Plus, there was not nearly the amount of product and entertainment, so there was not as much of a worry of the movie being forgotten so quickly.

First tape I recall hurrying to release AND at sell through price was 1989's Batman. Movie cam out that summer and I'm almost certain the tape hit stores at around $20 in January...maybe earlier.

Now people own movies in whatever format. As such, it's best to strike while the iron is still hot and people are talking about the movie.

That may be the scheduled release date but I saw Endgame at Target last week.