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Internet VOD: Some progress but still ways to go

This article is more than 10 years old.

Older hits: can you find legal streams for them? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Earlier this week, I looked at availability of older hits on subscriptions services but the subscription model is not the only one to exist in the online space.

Many services like Amazon, iTunes, and Vudu, now offer internet video-on-demand, charging a per-movie fee to either purchase either a short-term (generally 24 to 48 hours) or permanent license to stream a specific titles. Short term licenses, also known as rentals, typically sell for $3.99 to $7.99; permanent license retail for $9.99 and up. Last week, I looked at availability of 2012 blockbusters on those services.

But what about older titles? Let's take a look at the top 100 titles to hit the box office in 2011:

Rank Movie Title Amazon iTunes Vudu
1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 No No No
2 Transformers: Dark of the Moon Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
3 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
4 The Hangover Part II No No No
5 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
6 Fast Five No No No
7 Cars 2 Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
8 Thor Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
9 Rise of the Planet of the Apes Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
10 Captain America: The First Avenger No Purchase only Purchase only
11 The Help Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
12 Bridesmaids No Purchase only No
13 Kung Fu Panda 2 No No No
14 X-Men: First Class Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
15 Puss in Boots No No No
16 Rio Purchase only Yes Purchase only
17 The Smurfs Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
18 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol No Purchase only Purchase only
19 Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows No No No
20 Super 8 Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
21 Rango Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
22 Horrible Bosses No No No
23 Green Lantern No No No
24 Hop No No No
25 Paranormal Activity 3 No Purchase only Purchase only
26 Just Go With It Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
27 Bad Teacher Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
28 Cowboys & Aliens No No No
29 Gnomeo and Juliet Yes Yes No
30 The Green Hornet Yes Yes Yes
31 Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
32 The Lion King (in 3D) No No Purchase only
33 Real Steel Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
34 Crazy, Stupid, Love. No No No
35 The Muppets Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
36 Battle: Los Angeles Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
37 Immortals Yes Yes Yes
38 Zookeeper Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
39 Limitless Yes Yes Yes
40 Tower Heist No No No
41 Contagion No No No
42 Moneyball No Purchase only Purchase only
43 Justin Bieber: Never Say Never No Purchase only Purchase only
44 Dolphin Tale No No No
45 Jack and Jill Purchase only Purchase only No
46 No Strings Attached Yes Yes Yes
47 Mr. Popper's Penguins Yes Yes Yes
48 Unknown Yes Yes Yes
49 The Adjustment Bureau Yes Yes Yes
50 Happy Feet Two No No No
51 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
52 Water for Elephants Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
53 The Lincoln Lawyer Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
54 Midnight in Paris Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
55 Friends with Benefits Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
56 I Am Number Four Yes Yes Yes
57 Source Code Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
58 Insidious Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
59 Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family Purchase only Purchase only No
60 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules No No Yes
61 Footloose (2011) Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
62 The Adventures of Tintin Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
63 Hugo Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
64 The Dilemma Yes Yes Yes
65 New Year's Eve No No No
66 Arthur Christmas Yes Yes Yes
67 War Horse Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
68 Hall Pass No No No
69 We Bought a Zoo Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
70 Soul Surfer Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
71 Final Destination 5 No No No
72 The Ides of March Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
73 The Descendants Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
74 Hanna No Purchase only No
75 Something Borrowed No No No
76 Spy Kids: All the Time in the World No No No
77 Scream 4 Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
78 Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son No Purchase only Purchase only
79 Red Riding Hood Yes Yes No
80 Paul No Purchase only No
81 The Roommate Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
82 Jumping the Broom Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
83 The Change-Up No No No
84 30 Minutes or Less Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
85 In Time Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
86 Colombiana Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
87 J. Edgar No No No
88 Sucker Punch Yes Yes No
89 Larry Crowne No No No
90 50/50 Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
91 Drive (2011) Yes Purchase only Purchase only
92 A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas No No No
93 Courageous Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
94 The Rite Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
95 Arthur (2011) Yes Yes No
96 The Debt Yes No No
97 Priest Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
98 The Mechanic No No No
99 Abduction Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
100 Beastly No Purchase only Yes

What I find particularly interesting about this chart is how it breaks down. While a lot of titles used to be available for short term rentals, Hollywood seems to be pushing providers to move to unlimited licenses and keep users from buying single use licenses to content.

Assuming that this were the case, we should see the same pattern on 2010 titles, which are now over 2 years old and well beyond any release window dates. Let's take a look:While it is surprising that over 1/3rd of all titles are still not available for streaming (with Apple iTunes faring a little better as it can claim to have 62% of the titles), the majority of the titles are only available under long-term licenses, the more expensive kind of offering in the online space. Granted, when compared with the price of a movie ticket, these may be considered relatively cheap but when compared with the price of a short term license, we're looking at prices that are two to three times higher. It seems Hollywood and online VOD providers have come to an agreement that older titles ought to be put in the sales bucket instead of the rental one.

Rank Movie Title Amazon iTunes Vudu
1 Toy Story 3 Yes Yes Yes
2 Alice in Wonderland Yes Yes Yes
3 Iron Man 2 Yes Purchase only Yes
4 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
5 Inception Yes Yes Yes
6 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 Yes Yes Yes
7 Despicable Me Yes Yes Yes
8 Shrek Forever After Purchase only Yes Purchase only
9 How to Train Your Dragon Yes Yes Yes
10 Tangled Yes Yes Purchase only
11 The Karate Kid Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
12 Clash of the Titans Yes Yes Yes
13 Grown Ups Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
14 Tron Legacy Yes Yes Yes
15 Megamind Yes Yes Yes
16 Little Fockers Yes Yes Yes
17 The Last Airbender Yes Yes Yes
18 True Grit Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
19 Shutter Island Yes Yes Yes
20 The Other Guys Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
21 Salt Purchase only Yes Purchase only
22 Jackass 3D No No No
23 Valentine's Day Yes Yes Yes
24 Robin Hood Yes Yes Yes
25 The Expendables Yes Purchase only Purchase only
26 Due Date Yes Yes Yes
27 The Chronicle of Narnia: Voyage of the DawnTreader Yes Yes Yes
28 Date Night Yes Yes Yes
29 Sex and the City 2 Yes Yes Yes
30 The Social Network Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
31 The Book of Eli Yes Yes Yes
32 The Town Yes Yes Yes
33 Prince of Persia: Sands of time Yes Yes Yes
34 Red Yes No No
35 Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief Yes Yes No
36 Paranormal Activity 2 Yes Yes Yes
37 Yogi Bear Yes Yes Yes
38 Eat Pray Love Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
39 Unstoppable Yes Yes Yes
40 Dear John Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
41 The A-team Yes Yes Yes
42 Knight & Day No Yes Yes
43 Black Swan Yes Yes Yes
44 Dinner for Schmucks No Yes No
45 The Fighter Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
46 The Bounty Hunter Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
47 The Tourist Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
48 Diary of a Wimpy Kid Yes Yes Yes
49 The Sorcerer's Apprentice Yes Yes Yes
50 A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) Yes Yes Yes
51 The Last Song Yes Yes Purchase only
52 The Wolfman Yes Yes Yes
53 Get him to the Greek Yes Yes Yes
54 Resident Evil: Afterlife Yes Yes Purchase only
55 Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too No No No
56 Tooth Fairy Yes Yes Yes
57 Secretariat Yes Yes Yes
58 Easy A Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
59 Takers Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
60 Legend of the Guardians Yes Yes Yes
61 Life as We Know It Yes Yes Yes
62 Letters to Juliet Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
63 Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Yes Yes Yes
64 Predators Yes Yes Purchase only
65 Hot Tub Time Machine Yes Yes Purchase only
66 Kick-Ass Yes Purchase only Yes
67 The King's Speech Yes Yes Yes
68 Killers Yes Yes Purchase only
69 Saw 3D No No No
70 Cop Out Yes Yes Yes
71 Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore Yes Yes Yes
72 Edge of Darkness Yes No Yes
73 Death at a Funeral Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
74 Step-Up 3D No No No
75 The Last Exorcism Yes Purchase only Purchase only
76 Legion Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
77 The Crazies Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
78 Gulliver's Travels Yes Yes Yes
79 Burlesque Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
80 For Colored Girls Yes Purchase only Yes
81 The Back-up Plan No Yes No
82 Vampires Suck Yes Yes Yes
83 The American No No No
84 Green Zone Yes Yes Yes
85 Marmaduke Yes Yes Yes
86 Devil No No No
87 Hereafter Yes Yes Yes
88 When in Rome Yes Yes Yes
89 Love and Other Drugs No No Purchase only
90 She's Out of My League Yes Yes Yes
91 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Yes Yes Yes
92 Charlie St. Cloud Yes Yes Yes
93 Morning Glory Purchase only Yes Purchase only
94 Daybreakers Yes Yes Purchase only
95 How Do You Know Purchase only Purchase only Purchase only
96 Nanny McPhee Returns Yes Yes Yes
97 The Switch Yes Yes Yes
98 Brooklyn's Finest Yes Yes Yes
99 Machete Yes Yes Yes
100 Ramona and Beezus Yes Yes No

But here, something strange is happening. Apparently, we see a reversal back to the rental model when a title is over two years old.

It's an odd reversal of the model as long term licenses for a lot of those titles cannot be bought but short term ones (ie. rentals) are more readily available than long term ones. But what about total availability? Is it any better than what we witnessed on a-la-carte service? Let's do a recap and see if we're seeing progress there.

Here, we see some improvements as roughly two thirds of all blockbusters of the last three years appear to be available in some form as legal streams (Amazon: 70%, iTunes: 74%, Vudu: 71%) thanks to substantial increase in back-catalog. However, in a world where 92% of those titles are available on DVD, there are still questions as to why a 20% gap continues to exist between pieces of plastic and electronic streams. That gap will, unfortunately, be filled by consumers through alternate means, most of which involve getting such content illegally. If Hollywood wants to stem the flow of piracy, its  best option is to establish parity between BluRay/DVD and online streams

Another important thing we can see is that the all-you-can-eat subscription model is not the best way to access mainstream movies. The studios have voted and it is clear that they prefer a model where fees are established at run time instead of in an all you can eat approach. One can only assume that the revenue envisioned under the traditional VOD model is something that is still more appealing to movie studios than new models where a stream may or may not happen. This could call into question the long term viability of the subscription model, unless we see new "premium" type of offerings emerging.

Conclusion

When it comes to finding legal streams for movies on the internet, the situation is improving from year to year but there is still much work to be done. Hollywood is still clinging on to the concept of selling physical goods like BluRay and DVD disks and giving those formats an advantage over legal streams. The result of such decision will undoubtedly be that consumers looking for such content in the online world may be driven to piracy. This observation is not a mere toss-away but rather a belief that what we witnessed in the music industry over a decade ago, with consumers opting for illegal but free MP3 downloads over legal equivalent is now starting to happen in the movie industry.

The movie industry, however, has learned somewhat from the lessons of the music industry and is slowly trying to adapt. The gap in their adoption speed is where most of the piracy will sit today. Whether the studios want to stamp out piracy or not is really in their hands as it's been shown that providing legal alternatives generally ends up undercutting illegal efforts. Will Hollywood be smart enough to evolve to the new format? The jury is still open on that but signs point to some chances for progress.