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Posted by Derek Janssen on 07/31/07 08:44
TB wrote:
>
>>>>DVD was 6x the price of VHS with players 10x the price. I guess it'll
>>>>never catch on.
>>
>>> Bullshit. Platoon DVD was $20. Platoon VHS was $99.
(Of course that wasn't *really* what everyone else was talking about,
but hey, it's an interesting thread idea anyway: )
>>What planet are you from?
>>
>>Tapes typically sell for under $10-15. Are you quoting rental media
>>prices?
>
> You have no idea what you're talking about.
>
> When theatrical releases first showed up on home video on vhs and beta
> tapes, they were indeed around $90 per movie in the early 80's. This was
> even before home video rental. A Video tape player/recorder averaged at
> least $1,000 - $1,500 the first couple years the format was available to
> consumers. In the mid 80's, tapes eventually started dropping below the $30
> price and eventually the $20 barrier was broken for major releases. During
> the mid 80's, the laserdisc format found a large niche market but movies
> averaged between $30 - $50 per title even up through the mid 90's. LD
> players averaged between $400 - $1,500 to the end of the format.
>
> DVD's *started out* priced at $20 - $30 per movie. To this day, most new
> 1 - 2 disc dvd titles average about $20. Players quickly dropped to below
> $400 by the second year the format was available to consumers and within 5
> years, you could get a player for under $50.
Actually, he *is* referring to rental media--
Unless it was a big-sale title meant for Target and Wal-Mart (eg.
Disney), most debut VHS were produced in limited amounts for rental
stores, and averaged industry prices of $99-120.
If you wanted to own the tape anyway you had the choice of A) paying out
the dough that first week, B) searching the "Previously Viewed" shelves,
C) waiting three months for Columbia House Tape Club to clearance out
industry stock and sell it mail-order for $29, or D) waiting a year and
HOPING the title would show up as a back-catalog reissue for $20.
Don't really know anyone who was fool enough to spring for A), unless
they were some complete tech geek who weighed all his self-worth by what
he could buy that you couldn't, and daring you to even approach his
home-theater acumen...
So, Dark, how's that $99 copy of Platoon holding up? ;)
> DVDs have been by far the best value for the money as far as player and
> media in the history of home entertainment without even factoring in a/v
> quality.
> It appears the studios are attempting to price the HD media much like they
> did with laserdiscs, as a high quality/higher priced alternative for a niche
> market of so-called a/v enthusiasts who they believe will pay more for
> better quality product. The players may already be dropping down to a
> reasonable price but I think as long as the discs themselves are priced as
> high as they are right now, neither format will supplant dvds in the next 5
> years.
Also, it's a small market, on a disk that isn't as widely produced as it
probably will be a year from now--
Remember those $39.95 DVD's that used to come from Fox and Disney?--That
was back when it was still Neato.
Derek Janssen
ejanss@comcast.net
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