IGER: DISNEY WON’T FORCE NETFLIX, REDBOX TO WAIT 28 DAYS

Disney chief Robert Iger has defended his studio’s decision to release Alice in Wonderland to Netflix, RedBox and other discount operators on the same date that it hit retail shelves, rather than force them to wait 28 days as other studios have done. As reported by Home Media magazine, Iger told a New York investors conference, “If we just keep our content on the traditional platforms and people migrate to the new ones, we are not going to slow that process down by staying on the traditional ones. … While current platform revenue is certainly important, and it is to be respected, it is not necessarily to be protected at the cost of not occupying space on new media platforms.” But, Home Media observed, several Wall Street analysts are taking a dim view of Disney’s position. It quoted Richard Greenfield, with BTIG Research in New York, as saying, “The longer Disney waits to impose windows on home entertainment, the greater the risk that consumers give up buying movies for the lower price and convenience of renting.”