Entertainment Industry Strategist David L. White Says Movie Studios Are Falling Further Behind Home Entertainment Paradigm Shift

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Entertainment Industry Strategist David L. White
Says Movie Studios Are Falling Further Behind
Home Entertainment Paradigm Shift
(1888PressRelease) Leading entertainment industry
strategist David L. White analyzes current
entertainment distribution models and offers
insight into changing consumer landscape. FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact Lisa Amend August 7,
2012 [phone] Lisa ( _at_ ) SaintSomewhereMarke
ting dot com Los Angeles, August 6, 2012 David
L. White, former Miramax executive and a leading
strategic consultant for the home entertainment
and other industries, says movie studios and
other entertainment producers are not changing
their distribution model as quickly as consumers
are moving from disc libraries to digital access
and cloud storage of video content. "Having
worked and consulted in the home entertainment
industry for Miramax, one of the world's most
iconic brands and recognized names in film, I saw
firsthand the tug of war taking place between the
studios and consumers," said White. "The studios
want to maintain their physical media model,
although DVD and Blu-ray sales continue to
decline, which has forced price decreases.
Consumers' unquenchable thirst for content and an
enhanced user experience is a countertrend, which
studios, in my opinion, are not sufficiently
addressing to protect their long-term
revenues." White added that he understands why
the industry as a whole may not seem overly
concerned, since distribution via physical media
is only declining at a 7-percent rate and digital
distribution only represents 10 percent of sales.
He expects the entertainment industry to squeeze
every last bit of revenue from home video disc
sales, but this is short-term thinking, and could
lead to major industry casualties and
consolidation. "The major studios have waited
much too long to understand this shift in
consumers' home entertainment preferences, and to
develop plans to mitigate its impact," said
White. "I am convinced that the convergence of
those consumers who were early adopters of
digital-based video content and the much larger
market of mid-adopters will happen by early
2014."
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"Then, the decline of the physical media market
will be sudden and steep, much the same as what
has occurred with CDs in the music market. I
predict that as physical media sales drop
dramatically, it will be replaced with
lower-priced video-on-demand (VOD) and
subscription-based viewing (SVOD). If there was
any question as to the legitimacy and
inevitability of this trend, then it was quickly
answered when major players, such as Apple,
Amazon, Netflix and Wal-Mart, entered the
competition." "As with CDs, consumers have
changed their 'emblem of ownership' of visual
content. Once there was a sense of pride in
displaying a large case of DVDs (CDs, videotapes,
vinyl record albums) in the entertainment area of
the home. Today, consumers would rather show
family and friends how easily content can be
accessed and viewed on their TV with the simple
push of a button, be it vacation photos and
videos, gaming or the Internet." According to
NPD Display Search, a market research company,
the sales of Internet-connected TVs in North
America will increase from 9 million for 2011 to
24.7 million by 2014. DisplaySearch research
predicts 18 million Internet-connected TVs will
be shipped North America during 2012, with 38
million by 2015. The global total for 2015 is
expected to reach more than a half billion. "I
was a member of the executive team Mike Lang,
(former) Miramax CEO, assembled to develop a
strategy to monetize the Miramax film library
that Filmyard Holdings purchased from Disney
during December 2010," White said. "Once these
deals were completed and the plans implemented,
Miramax's priorities shifted to simply monitoring
the efforts of our partners Lionsgate and Echo
Bridge Entertainment. I know we were incredibly
successful and that these distribution partners
will continue the momentum." "Our goal was to
negotiate new distribution deals in physical and
digital channels, knowing that the challenge is
different for major studios and libraries. Major
studios have new releases or additional libraries
to distribute however, whether it is a studio or
a robust film library, they need to reinforce
larger strategies with aggressive digital plans
vital to either's success. "The studios are
likely to feel the most pain in this tug of war
with consumers," concluded White. "To whatever
degree they succeed will be tied to digital
planning and comprehensive approaches that
mitigate channel conflict. The studios must take
into account that Apple owns the vast majority of
the digital space, so they can
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still succeed with partners, such as Vudu and
Cinema Now that are key players, given their ties
to brick-and-mortar space. After all, consumers
always win they drive the market. Consumers will
continue to demand lower-priced video content and
greater accessibility. As a strategic consultant,
my advice to studios is to become more efficient
and quickly shift their focus from traditional
distribution models to the digital model."
About David L. White and Centric Industries,
Inc. During a professional career of more than
20 years, David L. White has become a highly
versatile (and sought-after) consumer products
strategist. After many years with Belkin
International, Actuant, Rainbird and The Flecto
Co., he founded Centric Industries, Inc. during
2009. It has developed value-added partnerships
with a number of retailers, manufacturers and
investment firms. This value is primarily derived
from the development of consumer products and
placement, but also includes strategic
development for its partners. http//www.yourbook
marketers.com/