Back in the spring, AMC theaters were pissed that Universal was putting Trolls: World Tour on demand instead of in theaters because of the pandemic. They banned the studio's lineup of films. A few weeks ago, however, the two made a deal and it is something that makes a lot of sense. Movies will be in theaters for 17 days before making it to on demand. After that, anything goes.
Maybe AMC had a change of heart looking at how the virus has impacted people. It does two things. One, it keeps the theater going individuals a little happy. They still want to go out and experience a new film the same way it has been for over a century. You also get the ones who fear the virus. There is a point. Do you think your movie theater is disinfecting the place after every screening? Better safe than sorry. Instead of waiting a couple months, you wait a couple weeks. It's going to be a win-win for both.
Times have changed in the last decade. We're seeing more original content on streaming and demand. Some of your smaller type content is getting to those places instead of the movie theaters. What could be a failure or modest fair could be a success in a different format. AMC could be allowing this to other companies, and I can't see some of them saying no at all. It should benefit a lot of customers. As long as the on demand pricing isn't stupid like what Disney is going to do with Mulan.
Movie experiences will be a whole lot different if other studios join in.
Showing posts with label amc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amc. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Mo Money, No Theater Run
Universal has done well with their Trolls sequel. There are reports that say it has made near or at 100 million dollar via the video on demand. There were statements from its CEO on potentially doing on demand with a theatrical release in the future on their movies. Obviously, backlash has occurred. AMC theaters and Regal have shown displeasure and the former is not going to allow their films in the future. At least what I would assume is a short ban. A ton of stuff in terms of accusations and just a bunch of crap.
I wouldn't want to gloat about how well the movie is doing so far. In this pandemic, that's the last thing to do or even mention what your intentions are in the future. At the same time, what could be considered for on demand and theaters at the same time. Because a lot of Universal's properties have been pushed back. Same for many companies. I'm going to assume licensing and wanting to make quick money with Trolls. There's no good answer to this situation.
There's probably more to this controversy and probably one that could get addressed soon. But Universal has to understand that not everybody is going to instantly go for demand. It has to do with where you are and prices for the movie theaters. Whether you're alone or have a family. If you're busy. Not everyone will think it's easy to justify 20 dollars for two days of viewing a movie. In that same token, AMC and Regal are not cheap theaters. Last year, for three people. tickets all together was over 30 dollars for a matinee. There's pros and cons for both sides. I'm sure this isn't far from over.
Things do feel like they are getting back to normal, kind of. But we're not out of this yet. Even considering the circumstances, these companies can get to fixing the relationships they have and hopefully we see the Universal films back in more theaters.
I wouldn't want to gloat about how well the movie is doing so far. In this pandemic, that's the last thing to do or even mention what your intentions are in the future. At the same time, what could be considered for on demand and theaters at the same time. Because a lot of Universal's properties have been pushed back. Same for many companies. I'm going to assume licensing and wanting to make quick money with Trolls. There's no good answer to this situation.
There's probably more to this controversy and probably one that could get addressed soon. But Universal has to understand that not everybody is going to instantly go for demand. It has to do with where you are and prices for the movie theaters. Whether you're alone or have a family. If you're busy. Not everyone will think it's easy to justify 20 dollars for two days of viewing a movie. In that same token, AMC and Regal are not cheap theaters. Last year, for three people. tickets all together was over 30 dollars for a matinee. There's pros and cons for both sides. I'm sure this isn't far from over.
Things do feel like they are getting back to normal, kind of. But we're not out of this yet. Even considering the circumstances, these companies can get to fixing the relationships they have and hopefully we see the Universal films back in more theaters.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Too Many Commercials
As television has grown to where there are lots of cable networks competing, there is always a constant. That is the constant feed of commercials. In a time of watching stuff on AMC and Spike, you will always find five minutes of commercials before going back to the show or film before getting another five minutes. With that in mind, here is one that will creep up and anger people more. It is seven minutes of commercials per break.
Last year, I watched a few movies on cable. Early in the year, I watched an airing of Jackass: The Movie on MTV. It's not lengthy, but there was a point in the middle of the film where it was bombarded with two straight breaks of seven to eight minutes. A few months later, I watched the 60s version of The Jungle Book on Freeform. That film was not lengthy, either, but it was reaching points where it had some of the commercial lengths as Jackass did and had a two hour fifteen minute air time on the channel. As I look at some of these channels, it's been very evident for years that they are desperate for money and a few extra commercials is their way of getting more revenue in a time where people are going to Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, and other sites to get their TV or movie fix. The thought of every channel going seven minutes is a scary one.
As of now, the biggest offender is Viacom. Most of their channels employ tactics to get extra commercials. The air times on stuff like Comedy Central, MTV, and BET is beyond absurd and stupid. Looking at what is on for films for the rest of the week, two films had three and a half hour air times. These weren't dramas or even mob films. They were comedies that aren't that long. One clocked at below an hour fifty and the other was a few minutes past two hours. The tactic might work for Viacom in the short term, but long term is going to be a rough road if it backfires.
Syndication cuts are pretty obvious when it boils down to TV shows, but that's for another topic if it gets made. The tactic is time compression, which is speeding up shows to fit in the half hour time span of the syndicated version of the show to get more commercial time. Some movies do that, but they go more for cutting stuff for both time and content. This was a big deal a few years ago when sites and a few entertainment shows talked about a video one did on YouTube in 2013 on Seinfeld reruns ten years earlier at the time. He did a test in 2015 to see how much of a difference it was and it was sped up a little more.
It's not just TBS. It's pretty much the case with any network that has shows up until the 90s to early 2000s. Even some of the early SpongeBob SquarePants episodes suffer because of the era it was in. Yeah, original content like The Walking Dead may get millions of viewers, but for anyone wanting reruns of shows, the choice is obvious now these days. Networks are still going to wonder why they keep losing viewership. Netflix, Hulu, and other sites have access to all episodes of a show and barring certain things like Saturday Night Live and South Park, should be uncut and unaltered. You can watch as many times as you want before deals expire on shows.
Movies, on the other hand, is tougher. It's hard to know when a deal can be made on some films, popular or unpopular. Networks envy the most recent ones and try to get them on HBO or Showtime before going to a cable network like FX or AMC. Companies are making deals to stream exclusively on one platform, though, making them adjust pretty well to the modern era of watching things. Unfortunately, not every film will make it to an online site and unless you're not able to find on DVD or Blu-ray, you might be stuck with the cable version.
Could we see a time where there is ten minutes of commercials in one break? I hope not. With losing viewership from a number of networks (some of which cannot be blamed on commercials) and rising costs per household, it could be a reality that will be dreaded, even if you are dedicated to something like a 15-hour South Park marathon. Only time will tell, and it may look no good.
Last year, I watched a few movies on cable. Early in the year, I watched an airing of Jackass: The Movie on MTV. It's not lengthy, but there was a point in the middle of the film where it was bombarded with two straight breaks of seven to eight minutes. A few months later, I watched the 60s version of The Jungle Book on Freeform. That film was not lengthy, either, but it was reaching points where it had some of the commercial lengths as Jackass did and had a two hour fifteen minute air time on the channel. As I look at some of these channels, it's been very evident for years that they are desperate for money and a few extra commercials is their way of getting more revenue in a time where people are going to Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, and other sites to get their TV or movie fix. The thought of every channel going seven minutes is a scary one.
As of now, the biggest offender is Viacom. Most of their channels employ tactics to get extra commercials. The air times on stuff like Comedy Central, MTV, and BET is beyond absurd and stupid. Looking at what is on for films for the rest of the week, two films had three and a half hour air times. These weren't dramas or even mob films. They were comedies that aren't that long. One clocked at below an hour fifty and the other was a few minutes past two hours. The tactic might work for Viacom in the short term, but long term is going to be a rough road if it backfires.
Syndication cuts are pretty obvious when it boils down to TV shows, but that's for another topic if it gets made. The tactic is time compression, which is speeding up shows to fit in the half hour time span of the syndicated version of the show to get more commercial time. Some movies do that, but they go more for cutting stuff for both time and content. This was a big deal a few years ago when sites and a few entertainment shows talked about a video one did on YouTube in 2013 on Seinfeld reruns ten years earlier at the time. He did a test in 2015 to see how much of a difference it was and it was sped up a little more.
It's not just TBS. It's pretty much the case with any network that has shows up until the 90s to early 2000s. Even some of the early SpongeBob SquarePants episodes suffer because of the era it was in. Yeah, original content like The Walking Dead may get millions of viewers, but for anyone wanting reruns of shows, the choice is obvious now these days. Networks are still going to wonder why they keep losing viewership. Netflix, Hulu, and other sites have access to all episodes of a show and barring certain things like Saturday Night Live and South Park, should be uncut and unaltered. You can watch as many times as you want before deals expire on shows.
Movies, on the other hand, is tougher. It's hard to know when a deal can be made on some films, popular or unpopular. Networks envy the most recent ones and try to get them on HBO or Showtime before going to a cable network like FX or AMC. Companies are making deals to stream exclusively on one platform, though, making them adjust pretty well to the modern era of watching things. Unfortunately, not every film will make it to an online site and unless you're not able to find on DVD or Blu-ray, you might be stuck with the cable version.
Could we see a time where there is ten minutes of commercials in one break? I hope not. With losing viewership from a number of networks (some of which cannot be blamed on commercials) and rising costs per household, it could be a reality that will be dreaded, even if you are dedicated to something like a 15-hour South Park marathon. Only time will tell, and it may look no good.
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