AMC and Universal Deal

JTullock23

Do you think that this new Premium On-Demand function will impact the NTTD release at all? For those that aren't aware, movie theatre giant AMC and Universal have struck a "multi-year agreement that will allow the studio's films to premiere on premium video on-demand within three weeks of release. What do you all think?

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/universal-amc-theatres-forge-historic-203055949.html

HowardB

It did not surprise me that Universal was being quick on the trigger with putting films on VOD after theatrical runs (or simultaneously).
Universal is owned by COMCAST, the biggest pay cable provider in the world. COMCAST pretty much has a monopoly on cable service in the USA and got there by buying up the competition. COMCAST is always hungry for material to offer that they can maximize profits on and not have to pay licensing fees. So buying a film company like Universal made sense for them. Where COMCAST gets problematic is when they get greedy and decide to take things a big step further and attempt to destroy the movie theater business by starving them of product. Now obviously, in these days of pandemic and theaters being closed, it makes sense and is completely understandable that film companies are looking at alternate outlets for their product, but COMCAST has been at this with Universal prior to the pandemic. As one who loves seeing films in a proper theater (especially the "big" films like Bond, etc) I am glad they have reached an agreement which will help preserve the theater experience for the future.

JTullock23

Good points.