International Disney Exiting Physical Media in Australia (1 Viewer)

[Robert13]

It's been explained several times in the Mill Creek/Disney thread. As Josh reiterated, again, the deal was never about any "new" titles, only keeping a certain slate of previously issued catalog titles in-print.

I guess I mis-understood. I thought previously released titles would be released. While not "new" titles, I thought it was possible for out of print titles to gain new shelf life. Thanks for explaining!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

That doesn't seem to make sense, unless the contract was incredibly vague on what rights the company was given. The SteelBook case, OK, I can see that, but one would think that the "character cards" included would have to be specifically licensed from Disney.

Would recommend reading the Bits post, which was within the past few days. Their license was with Disney Consumer Products, not Disney Home Entertainment, so basically they’re allowed to make collectibles, not discs or disc-based content. But allegedly Disney was blindsighted by this particular release. They probably wouldn’t have allowed a fake product case for a disc that doesn’t exist if they had been asked first.

 

[OliverK]

More incentive to join Disney+.

Not going to pay them anything and I hope they will be around as long as their physical media releases in Australia.

Dedicated 4K Disc players may be drying up in the near future too. Enjoy what you have while you have it

I think this is not going to happen any time soon and even then some lower priced backup players should not break the bank or one can get a used one when it is needed. LD players have mostly been out of production for two decades and it is no problem to find a working unit.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Who's to say that Disney won't stop selling physical media in the States or Europe all-together.

 

[Edwin-S]

Who's to say that Disney won't stop selling physical media in the States or Europe all-together.

I expect that to eventually happen. Australia is just the test case for elimination of physical releases by Disney. For anything they own it will be the theatre, one of their streaming services or nothing.

 

[jayembee]

It kind of makes me want to give up.

 

[Worth]

They still haven't released last year's Barbarian or See How They Run on any physical format, anywhere in the world.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Who's to say that Disney won't stop selling physical media in the States or Europe all-together.

I keep thinking about one thing whenever this news comes up: the legal filings that Universal and Warner made when they combined their home video divisions into a joint venture they called SDS. In that filing, they justified the venture by stating physical media sales were falling so quick that neither company could justify having their own dedicated unit but their hope was that the savings from shared efficiencies might allow it to remain a viable business for another ten years. They joined forces circa 2019, which means that the major studios believe physical media as a mass market product will no longer be viable by the end of this decade.

Disney was essentially already out of Australia - they were licensing their releases to local companies down under rather than providing the discs and distribution themselves. That they’re pulling out of licensing really suggests that the well is running dry if the money they’re getting from disc listening down under doesn’t even justify the negligible expense and effort of sending a file on a hard drive there to let the local business handle the rest.

Australia is just the test case for elimination of physical releases by Disney.

I don’t think it’s a “test case” - I think it is part of a long running wind down in physical media due to evaporating demand that many of us enthusiasts are too inside our bubble to fully acknowledge.

 

[Bryan^H]

This is from a Youtuber / collector from Australia. Note the 11:00 mark. He states the physical market is very dire down under. Could be a reason why this move from Disney hits them first:


EDIT: and something I noticed in the video that is kind of disturbing for the NA market-- 'The Little Mermaid' coming BD only no 4K.

But betcha anything it is available 4K digital purchase, and Disney+

 

[Jake Lipson]

'The Little Mermaid' coming BD only no 4K.

4K will be available as part of retailer exclusives at Target, Best Buy (steelbook) and Disney Movie Club. Disney also did this with Strange World, which was available on 4K in the steelbook and at DMC.

 

[Indy Guy]

The fad nature of collecting discs was a byproduct of DVD's being the easiest and cheapest way for the entire consumer market to see what they want when they want it. Quality was added value and not the major driver for an audience comfortable with VHS tape.
As for those of us true collectors, somewhere during the last 15 years, the balance of our purchases shifted from new titles, to double dips and upgrades of our existing collections of DVD's and BR's. That upgrade mentality continues on to a lesser extent with 4K. What vanished as profit numbers dropped is the edge once provided by convenience and economy...both now the domain of more efficient digital delivery systems.
Aside from new release titles still available at big box retailers, the market for broad appeal catalogue film has been satisfied for most collectors. Excitement for our questing revolves around the latest upgrades, or limited releases of obscure titles with niche followers. Land of the Pharaohs and Helen of Troy are good examples. Non-collectors were satisfied by seeing either of these once in a lifetime, or have no "need" to upgrade the existing DVDs. I just bought "The Core" on 4K. To me, it's a noticeable improvement over the BR but I doubt non collectors feel any "need" to upgrade their first run DVD or BR's because a 4K version is now available.
Laser Disc collecting was never about convenience or economy, thats why the format never took off. I think things could drift back to a more "80's style" Laser media landscape, where diehard collectors continue to get excited about quality upgrades, esoteric titles, bonus features and box art. Laser was something special for cinefiles of the 80's & 90's to cherish. There is no reason to believe the same niche market has gone away, economics are reverting back to those Laser Disc numbers rather than maintaining the inflated world of DVD when economy and convenience ruled the day.
Those of us that hung on to our $129 Disney LD boxed sets still pull them out periodically to look at their lavish graphic presentations of Disney's finest work. To this day there are bonus features and extras on Laser titles like Alice in Wonderland that never made the transition to any digital format.

 

[Bryan^H]

I expect that to eventually happen. Australia is just the test case for elimination of physical releases by Disney. For anything they own it will be the theatre, one of their streaming services or nothing.

If their plan is eliminating physical as an avenue to streaming, I have bad news for them. It will not work.

 

[Robert Crawford]

A post has been deleted so please, keep political references or figures out of this discussion!

 

[Jeff F.]

I'd be curious to see what the ratio of digital to physical sales are for Disney. This could be the reasoning for why they are starting to back away from physical sales, unfortunately.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Disney Reportedly Exiting Australian Packaged-Media Market - Media Play News

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is reportedly exiting the DVD and Blu-ray Disc market in Australia, following similar moves in Asia and Latin America, as parent Disney focuses on digital … Continue reading "Disney Reportedly Exiting Australian Packaged-Media Market"

www.mediaplaynews.com

 

[RobertMG]

Disney Reportedly Exiting Australian Packaged-Media Market - Media Play News

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is reportedly exiting the DVD and Blu-ray Disc market in Australia, following similar moves in Asia and Latin America, as parent Disney focuses on digital … Continue reading "Disney Reportedly Exiting Australian Packaged-Media Market"

www.mediaplaynews.com

Interesting though it points out that physical media did 1.9 billion! The future will always have physical media one route will be every major studio just leases out their titles to home vid firms and the get royalties with Disney though a lot goin on Iger is looking at selling ABC too - they are too big the parks are too expensive so they are in deep trouble Zazlav night have a chance at WB disc sales are yes profitable and TCM is profitable he needs to make some GREAT films though just greenlight Lethal Weapon 5 already

 

[Robert Crawford]

Interesting though it points out that physical media did 1.9 billion! The future will always have physical media one route will be every major studio just leases out their titles to home vid firms and the get royalties with Disney though a lot goin on Iger is looking at selling ABC too - they are too big the parks are too expensive so they are in deep trouble Zazlav night have a chance at WB disc sales are yes profitable and TCM is profitable he needs to make some GREAT films though just greenlight Lethal Weapon 5 already

Where did you get that 1.9 Billion figure from? Physical media as we know it is diminishing away. There are no ifs or buts about that reality.

 

[RobertMG]

Where did you get that 1.9 Billion figure from? Physical media as we know it is diminishing away. There are no ifs or buts about that reality.

The Nine Lives of Packaged Media - Media Play News

It’s been said a cat has nine lives. Apparently, so does packaged media. Make no mistake, streaming video represents the present and future of home entertainment. The fact that the … Continue reading "The Nine Lives of Packaged Media"

www.mediaplaynews.com

 

[Bryan^H]

But when you look at this, the statistics are quite sobering:

2022 US home video sales: streaming still dominates, digital sales also up | Diverse Tech Geek

Looking over 2022 US home video revenue figures, streaming continues its dominance, while the only other category to rise is digital sales.

www.diversetechgeek.com

• Subscription streaming: $30.3 billion (up 17.3% from 2021)
• Digital sales (“electronic sell-thru”): $2.5 billion (up 1.7% from 2021)
• Digital rentals (“video on demand”): $1.7 billion (down 14.1% from 2021)
• Physical media sales: $1.6 billion (down 19.8% from 2021)
• Physical video rentals: $502.4 million (down 16.7% from 2021)
• Total: $36.6 billion (up 11.4% from 2021)

By percentage of overall revenue:

• Subscription streaming: 82.8%
• Digital sales (“electronic sell-thru”): 6.8%
• Digital rentals (“video on demand”): 4.6%
• Physical media sales: 4.4%
• Physical video rentals: 1.4%

 

[Robert Crawford]

The Nine Lives of Packaged Media - Media Play News

It’s been said a cat has nine lives. Apparently, so does packaged media. Make no mistake, streaming video represents the present and future of home entertainment. The fact that the … Continue reading "The Nine Lives of Packaged Media"

www.mediaplaynews.com

That article is from five years ago. A lot has happened to the physical media market since then.