I don't quite understand the Premium VOD fight.

If you don't pay attention to the trades (and who can blame you, most have devolved into 60% TMZ content or hiding behind a horrifically expensive pay wall), you've probably missed the start of the theaters versus studios battle over premium VOD.

In a nutshell- the studios, who need to make up cash for the declining DVD revenue, have decided to go forward with a "premium VOD" plan, in which, sixty days after release, you can pay $30 to see some of the films at home via cable operators. The theaters, in turn, are violently opposed to films being available any shorter than the ninety day window that already exists, and so they're threatening various sanctions- from not playing trailers or hanging posters for any film going into premium VOD to reducing the total amount of studio trailer placement by half. Nobody has come out and said "we won't play your movies if you do this", but it's been subtly threatened by "anonymous sources".

The whole fight is weird.

First of, from the studio end of things- does anyone really believe that folks are willing to pay $30 to watch a film two months after it's out, and weeks before the DVD/VOD release for $3.99? I can maybe see kids movies working this way, but really, I'm having a difficult time seeing people paying $30 even for day-and-date on most titles.

Sure, you'd save money if you brought over six friends and purchased LIMITLESS the day it was released, but there's a psychological barrier of price, and many people won't view it that way. They're used to paying $3.99-$5.99 for VOD films, and even more are used to things being on Netflix "for free" (and that's how people view it- they may be paying $6-$20 per month for Netflix, but since it's not per film, it's though of as free). $30 for what, at 60 days, is an "old" movie? That seems odd.

And from the theater end, they seem to already be pulling their punches. If they were diametrically opposed to this and not flexible, they'd say "if you do this we will not play that film" (which is what they do now if you break the 90 day window).

I'm curious to see how this develops. I don't believe that, right now, there's much market for indie films at $30 per title, particularly since the model is pretty well established at $5-9 for day-and-date indie film on VOD, and it's very impossible to triple prices after something is available for a year. But really, I don't think there's much of a market for studio films two months after release for $30 a title. I don't think doing this hurts the theaters, nor do I think it's going to be much revenue for studios. Day and date Hollywood film is, perhaps, another story altogether, but since nobody's talking about that (yet), that's for another day.

Interesting times.