Topic: Warner Brothers to Halt DVD, Video Distribution in South Korea

[Mouldingo]

Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. will end its video and DVD distribution business in South Korea because of illegal downloads of movies from the Internet.

Warner Home Video Korea will withdraw from the business as of Dec. 31 and the last title to be released will be ``The Dark Knight'' on Dec. 19, the company said in a statement on Nov. 10.

Warner Bros. will instead expand its digital business and focus on distributing digital content, according to the statement. Warner Bros. last month said it would become the first Hollywood studio in Korea to release movies through video-on-demand two weeks before the official DVD release.

South Korea's DVD market declined to 70 billion won ($51.5 million) in 2006 from a peak of 108.5 billion won in 2004, according to the latest data from the Korean Film Council.

[devlin_waugh]

could this mean the death of the disc (VCD, DVD, Bluray) format?

[juanch]

oh no!  I hope this doesn't happen anytime soon in here  :'(

[boredfilmmaker]

no more nice LEs for Warner movies then.. Korea used to release nice LEs pa naman.. kaya siguro wala na masyadong magandang LE from Korea dahil sa baba ng sales.. I hope they go all-out for their Dark Knight release..

[barrister]

could this mean the death of the disc (VCD, DVD, Bluray) format?

No, definitely not.

Kung yung VCD nga hindi mamatay-matay, yung DVD pa kaya?




That article is not accurate because it gives us the impression that no Warner releases will ever be sold legally again in South Korea.

The truth of the matter is that Warner releases will still be sold in South Korea, except that distribution will be taken over by a local company.

Warner is the only Hollywood studio directly distributing home videos in South Korea.  Pareho lang naman sa Philippines.  Dito, Warner lang din ang may direct distribution.   


Warner pulls Korean DVD sales organization
Tue Nov 11, 2008 8:41pm EST

Warner Bros, facing rampant online piracy, will close its DVD marketing and distribution operation in South Korea and hand over that business to a local licensee, the company said on Tuesday

http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSTRE4AB0GE20081112

[devlin_waugh]

No, definitely not.

Kung yung VCD nga hindi mamatay-matay, yung DVD pa kaya?

in the long run, I believe it will eventually...but yes in the near future - definitely not

Big business is probably finding out ways/business models to profit from movies without giving the Jack Sparrows an opportunity to take their share. What with the advent of fake blurays and NMTs...

[techdude]

Probably Warner is using South Korea as a guinea pig to see if legal downloads will sell in a developed country before expanding to say US where it will be harder to put the genie in the bottle once it's out of it...

[NeoXorn]

I actually read from WIRED Magazine & EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly) na in the near future daw, games, movies and music will only be available in digital distribution. This will make games, movies and music cheaper & more accessible.

The proof is actually here na; Pay-Per-View on DVRs like TiVo & DirectTV, iTunes, Apple TV, XBox Live, PlayStation Home & Wii Retro Games Downloads.

Even Comic Book companies are preparing with the iVerse for iPhone & iPod Touch, Marvel & DC are now offering digital copies of their library.


At least 15 to 20 years from now.

So cherish your favorite real/physical-world retailer.

[Mr. Hankey]

oh no!  I hope this doesn't happen anytime soon in here  :'(

Sadly... 

[frootloops]

I guess digital downloads will eventually kill all the physical discs, sooner or later, with the sudden changes happening now, I will not be surprised if it happens earlier than expected. DVD did not killed VCD totally, maybe because VCD to DVD is still a physical to physical technology, unlike DL's, aside it from being cheaper (like the sites mentioned by NeoXorn), whichever is more convenient is what people will patronize. Imagine getting a movie with just a click away. In connection, Disney Stores are also closing down and will settle for on-line purchases, this are the changes that we have to live with.

But with the emerging DL sites nowadays, I can't seem to imagine how Warner or other companies will battle this competetion. FREE vs cheap, now where would you go?

Sad..yes. Definitely a change that will be very hard for some, I for one is a physical collector, I like seeing my collection, my holy grail. However, someday somehow I will be forced to bite to the changes.