Goliath vs. Goliath
It's not everyday you get to see two giants battle it out. Sure, there was Oprah vs. the meat industry; the jets vs. the sharks; Joe vs. the volcano. But this time, it's Rupert Murdoch vs. Wal-Mart! Aha!
Wait, what? I bet you were expecting me to say "Rupert Murdoch vs. THE WORLD!" Which may be true. But this post is about Murdoch's tiff with Wal-Mart.
Seems Rupert Murdoch wants to reinvent the movie rental industry, and the way he wants to do that is by beaming movies into peoples' homes from the nine trillion or so satellites the man has in space. The only catch is that he doesn't want to have to wait the 45 days that video stores and retail outlets have been given over home rental/pay-per-view companies. This so-called "video window," according to anonymous movie execs, is the result of a long-standing unwritten agreement among studios to delay the electronic delivery of movies for at least six weeks after video stores have had the opportunity to rent them, and retail stores have had the opportunity to sell them.
So Murdoch wants to get rid of this 45-day rule faster than the Bushies want to get rid of international treaties. But he's up against some pretty serious opposition in Wal-Mart - who stands to lose lotsa money on video and DVD sales if electronic delivery of movies can happen the same day the films are released to retail stores.
Hmm...think they could maul each other to the death?
Wait, what? I bet you were expecting me to say "Rupert Murdoch vs. THE WORLD!" Which may be true. But this post is about Murdoch's tiff with Wal-Mart.
Seems Rupert Murdoch wants to reinvent the movie rental industry, and the way he wants to do that is by beaming movies into peoples' homes from the nine trillion or so satellites the man has in space. The only catch is that he doesn't want to have to wait the 45 days that video stores and retail outlets have been given over home rental/pay-per-view companies. This so-called "video window," according to anonymous movie execs, is the result of a long-standing unwritten agreement among studios to delay the electronic delivery of movies for at least six weeks after video stores have had the opportunity to rent them, and retail stores have had the opportunity to sell them.
So Murdoch wants to get rid of this 45-day rule faster than the Bushies want to get rid of international treaties. But he's up against some pretty serious opposition in Wal-Mart - who stands to lose lotsa money on video and DVD sales if electronic delivery of movies can happen the same day the films are released to retail stores.
Hmm...think they could maul each other to the death?
posted by MikeJ at
4:38 PM
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