Marketing data confirm what every stay-at-home viewer already suspected: Nearly all Americans will invest time and money going out to a video only for a really buzz-worthy, genuine and certified, bona fide blockbuster-a movie that’s absolutely and non-negotiably “must-see…right now!” In a year distinguished by some truly fine “indie” and art house films, and in a season marked by movie producers’ marketing machines running in overdrive, 2010 has generated remarkably few big hits. In fact, market trends show that the Grand Canyon involving the big films and the flops yawns ever wider. “Toy Story 3” could be the season’s runaway winner, but some other heavily marketed Disney offerings have gone straight to video, complete box-office disasters.
The trend is accelerating. The majority of the time, American movie audiences will wait even for Academy Award-winning films to become on DVD or via their on-demand services from cable and satellite providers. Now, with the advent of online movies, trips to the multi-plex may become even rarer.
An embarrassment of riches on the online menu
Though it hardly matters given that the field is crowded with competitors, analysts claim that Netflix launched this trend and has emerged as its biggest beneficiary. ดูหนังใหม่ Making movies and hit television programs available online and accessible through Wii, Playstation, and X-Box, Netflix has driven its earnings up 34% in the last year. More importantly, it has revolutionized users’ viewing habits, making their favorites instantly accessible through a number of devices including their hand-held phones and iPads.
Along with making movies and television series more accessible, online movie sites provide viewers with a staggering array of choices, and the menu seems to develop exponentially with each passing day. Along with recent hit movies and individual episodes of popular television shows available almost just after they air, some online movie sites offer impressive libraries of drama classics dating back almost to the invention of movies with sound. In the same way importantly, with the advent of 3D television, many viewers enjoy better, more vivid, more engrossing experiences with considerably better sound and far greater comfort in their property theaters than they did in high-priced amphitheater presentations.
“This is not an anomaly, a blip on the line, or perhaps a flash on the radar screen,” insists Danielle Brooks, media analyst at Patterson-Forbes Partners. “Consumers are voting with their thumbs, choosing online movies over theaters with a huge margin, and preferring internet viewing even over their cable and satellite options.” Brooks explains that online viewing sites offer more choices among more brand-new movie and television hits, often at minimum charge. “Netflix, primarily on the strength of its reputation, numbers one of the few services which makes money from user fees,” says Brooks. “Just about all others rely on advertising revenue from distributors and from producers of high-end video games-another option easily obtainable from most online movie sites.
Brooks and other visionary online movie prognosticators foresee the viewing experience gradually becoming more interactive. “Producers and directors is likely to make big-budget movies available with alternate endings or extra action sequences, letting consumers contribute to the movies’ development,” Brooks suggests. “DVD sales tell producers and studios that viewers like having control over the content of their movies, and parents especially appreciate having some way of measuring control or influence over their teen-agers’ viewing.”