You won't have to wait 28 days to rent Tom Cruise's summer thriller at a Blockbuster Express kiosk, but you will have to pay more than a buck a night. Meanwhile, a Redbox exec says the company has no plans to raise its nightly DVD rental prices … or not in the "near future," at least.The news comes as part of a new distribution deal struck between 20th Century Fox and NCR (which owns and operates Blockbuster Express kiosks, not bankrupt Blockbuster Inc.) that calls for a 28-day delay before Fox's latest DVDs are available for rent through Blockbuster Express, .But the deal also entails trying out "premium" DVD rental pricing for a few upcoming titles, and "Knight and Day" - the Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz action caper that I wasted two hours of my life watching back in July - will be among the first of movies to get the "premium" treatment, with "The A-Team" another "likely" guinea pig, according to the Times.Fox isn't the only movie studio tinkering with premium rental pricing for early access to DVD rentals in kiosks.that it would give the scheme a try, also with Blockbuster Express.So, how much more than $1 a night are we talking about, here? That's still up in the air, although one scenario that's been floated involves paying $3 for the first night, followed by $2 for additional nights.Given that "Knight and Day" is slated to arrive on DVD on November 30, it appears we're about to find out.Not taking part in the premium DVD rental trial - or not yet, anyway - is Blockbuster Express competitor Redbox.Still, it's worth nothing that Redbox has over the past several months. Earlier this year, Redbox experimented with nightly DVD rental prices as high as $2 for the first night, followed by $1 for subsequent nights.Redbox also tried different, flat pricing schemes in other markets, such as charging between $1.15 and $1.25 each night for DVD rentals. (Redbox already charges $1.50 a night for Blu-ray discs and $2 a night for games.)But while Redbox believe that there's some "elasticity" to the $1-a-night price, Coinstar CFO Scott Di Valerio told investors at a conference Wednesday that Redbox will stick to its buck-a-night guns, for now. (Coinstar is the parent company of Redbox, by the way.)"We don't believe at this point it is the right level to pull," said Di Valerio, , adding that "we don't see increasing the price for standard definition [DVD] in the near future" - leaving the door open, of course, to raising the price in the not-so-near future.Fox, Universal, and Warner Brothers are holding their latest releases back from the likes of Redbox, Netflix and now Blockbuster Express in the hopes that doing so will boost sagging DVD and Blu-ray sales. Indeed, an executive for Warner Bros. recently floated the idea ofeven longer, citing recent increases in disc sales after the delay was implemented.Not all the Hollywood studios are on board with a 28-day delay, however. Disney, Paramount, and Sony still offer their latest releases to Redbox and Netflix the day they arrive in stores.So, would you pay extra at a Blockbuster Express (or Redbox) kiosk to rent a new release the day it goes on sale? Or would you be happy to wait?Los Angeles Times: Home Media Magazine: - Ben Patterson is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.Crazy Jam.Zoot Suit Riot mp3 albums downloads.Free Expression Chapter One album.Here We are music.mp3 Ascension
‘Knight and Day’ to be among first ‘premium’ kiosk DVD rentals
You won't have to wait 28 days to rent Tom Cruise's summer thriller at a Blockbuster Express kiosk, but you will have to pay more than a buck a night. Meanwhile, a Redbox exec says the company has no plans to raise its nightly DVD rental prices … or not in the "near future," at least.The news comes as part of a new distribution deal struck between 20th Century Fox and NCR (which owns and operates Blockbuster Express kiosks, not bankrupt Blockbuster Inc.) that calls for a 28-day delay before Fox's latest DVDs are available for rent through Blockbuster Express, .But the deal also entails trying out "premium" DVD rental pricing for a few upcoming titles, and "Knight and Day" - the Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz action caper that I wasted two hours of my life watching back in July - will be among the first of movies to get the "premium" treatment, with "The A-Team" another "likely" guinea pig, according to the Times.Fox isn't the only movie studio tinkering with premium rental pricing for early access to DVD rentals in kiosks.that it would give the scheme a try, also with Blockbuster Express.So, how much more than $1 a night are we talking about, here? That's still up in the air, although one scenario that's been floated involves paying $3 for the first night, followed by $2 for additional nights.Given that "Knight and Day" is slated to arrive on DVD on November 30, it appears we're about to find out.Not taking part in the premium DVD rental trial - or not yet, anyway - is Blockbuster Express competitor Redbox.Still, it's worth nothing that Redbox has over the past several months. Earlier this year, Redbox experimented with nightly DVD rental prices as high as $2 for the first night, followed by $1 for subsequent nights.Redbox also tried different, flat pricing schemes in other markets, such as charging between $1.15 and $1.25 each night for DVD rentals. (Redbox already charges $1.50 a night for Blu-ray discs and $2 a night for games.)But while Redbox believe that there's some "elasticity" to the $1-a-night price, Coinstar CFO Scott Di Valerio told investors at a conference Wednesday that Redbox will stick to its buck-a-night guns, for now. (Coinstar is the parent company of Redbox, by the way.)"We don't believe at this point it is the right level to pull," said Di Valerio, , adding that "we don't see increasing the price for standard definition [DVD] in the near future" - leaving the door open, of course, to raising the price in the not-so-near future.Fox, Universal, and Warner Brothers are holding their latest releases back from the likes of Redbox, Netflix and now Blockbuster Express in the hopes that doing so will boost sagging DVD and Blu-ray sales. Indeed, an executive for Warner Bros. recently floated the idea ofeven longer, citing recent increases in disc sales after the delay was implemented.Not all the Hollywood studios are on board with a 28-day delay, however. Disney, Paramount, and Sony still offer their latest releases to Redbox and Netflix the day they arrive in stores.So, would you pay extra at a Blockbuster Express (or Redbox) kiosk to rent a new release the day it goes on sale? Or would you be happy to wait?Los Angeles Times: Home Media Magazine: - Ben Patterson is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.Crazy Jam.Zoot Suit Riot mp3 albums downloads.Free Expression Chapter One album.Here We are music.mp3 Ascension