Blockbuster faces 28-day delay for Warner Bros DVDs
updated 09:55 pm EDT, Thu October 27, 2011
Same restrictions on DVDs and streaming
Warner Brothers has reportedly imposed a 28-day delay for DVDs headed to Blockbuster's rental locations. The studio appears to be following the same strategy with Blockbuster rentals as it has maintained with other players such as Redbox and Netflix, which also face the same month-long window between DVD sales and rental availability.
“The question is: how do we make ownership more valuable and attractive?” Warner Bros. Home Entertainment president Kevin Tsujihara told the Financial Times in an interview (sub. required). “We have started the process of creating a window in bricks-and-mortar DVD and Blu-ray rental.”
Rather than complying with Warner Bros., Blockbuster reportedly began purchasing copies of Horrible Bosses and Green Lantern on the open market to sidestep the restriction and maintain rental availability as soon as DVDs go on sale.
Warner Bros. is said to be preparing to push for even longer delay windows early next year when it renegotiates contracts with Netflix and Redbox.
