I missed seeing the movie “Juno” in theaters, so when it was released for sale through iTunes I figured I would rent it first, then if it was as good as everybody said it was maybe I’d buy it.
The wife and I settled in front of the TV, I fired up the Apple TV, navigated to movies and found “Juno.” What the ?!?! “Juno” was available only for purchase, not for rental.
I forgot: Many movies for video-on-demand systems like the Apple TV have to wait a month or so for rentals to become available, allowing first for the sale of DVDs and rentals of the “physical” disc through a Blockbuster or Netflix.
Jeff Bewkes, Time Warner’s chief executive, said today that Warner Brothers studio will now release movies for video-on-demand systems on the same day as they are released on DVD.
“For consumers, this moves Hollywood closer to what most people want: The ability to get any movie, on any device, at any time,” notes Saul Hansell of The New York Times.
Continue reading »