Dvd Win
Can Online Dvd Rental Survive Award Seasons?
Film awards such as the Oscars and BAFTAs celebrate all that’s best about the cinema but they present a major problem for online DVD rental sites.
Demand for award-winning films increases greatly customers endeavour to get their hands on the celebrated titles and performances and DVD rental sites struggle to meet demand.
It is considered very likely that some delay will be met for those ordering the award-winning films during any award season.
Award seasons inflate demand in a way which doesn’t suit the online DVD rental model and consumers are often left wanting, although dvd rental sites themselves work hard to play this down.
Online DVD rental is likely to lose out to online streaming services and DVD sales in this regard and may lose customers over it.
So what are the facts behind DVD rental at award season time?
For example, in 2010 the thriller The Hurt Locker which is set during the Iraq war received the most awards, with six two its name including Best Picture.
Leading UK DVD rental site Lovefilm figures found that requests for The Hurt Locker increased by 117% in the 24 hours after the Oscars
Avatar, Crazy Heart and Precious also all received more than one award at the same ceremony.
Jeff Bridges was named best actor for his performance in Crazy Heart and Christopher Waltz’s role as ‘the Jew Hunter’ in Inglourious Basterds secured him best supporting actor.
Sandra Bullock was respectively commended for her role in The Blind Side and Mo’Nique was given the supporting award for her part in Precious.
Other winners include The Young Victoria and Up demand for these films increased by 37% and 19% respectively.
The BAFTA awards saw a similar increase in figures in the 24 hours following the ceremony.
DVD rental sites deny that there will be problems meeting demand but with a finite number of discs in their libraries it seems inevitable.
This is particularly true of films which win awards before they are even available to rent on DVD.
Pre-order has already seen a huge increase in demand. These figures are likely to keep climbing and there not be enough stock to accommodate demand.
So what can customer do about the wait for the most-wanted DVDs?
If customers do find that the wait for award-winning rentals is a long one, they could use DVD rental sites to find other less reputable films instead.
The ‘Razzie’ or Golden Raspberry Awards name the ‘worst’ titles of the year so this may be an amusing consolation for waiting customers.
About the Author
Emily Gorton is a staff writer for a site which compares UK DVD rental services. The site also has tools to help users find the longest DVD rental free trials
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