NCR’s Blockbuster Kiosks Expand Availability of “Day-And-Date” Program [Netflix Competitor NCR Gets More New Movies In At Release Date, Charges Higher Price]

Posted on TFTS by Steve Anderson on Wednesday, 30. March 2011 under: Audio,Visual, HD Equipment

Now here’s a question the folks at NCR, one of Netflix‘s current leading competitors (since they took over the Blockbuster Express kiosks), are dying to know the answer to: Are you prepared to pay double, or even triple, the price to get the DVD you want on its release date? And that’s a question they’re out to answer with the expansion of the so-called “Day and Date” program.

According to testing done in major markets including Atlanta, Miami and San Francisco, the answer is an overwhelming yes, despite the fact that the newest releases go from $1 to $2.99 for regular DVDs, and from $2 to $3.99 for Blu-ray. And the new ones you’ll be able to get your hands on soonest? None other than Black Swan, Gulliver’s Travels and Casino Jack.

NCR managed to get access to these titles faster because they worked out deals with 20th Century Fox, by which NCR agrees to charge higher prices, ostensibly so as not to dissuade people who would have bought the movie outright closer to its release date.

There’s no doubt that the competition for home entertainment dollars is hot and the stakes are massive. This kind of dealmaking and infighting can really only continue until the pecking order is established or until a lot of companies go out of business outright, possibly at the same time. Still though, as someone who believes the future of entertainment starts at home, these kinds of developments are nothing but encouraging for me. The more companies fight over home entertainment turf, the more valuable home entertainment turf begins to look. And the more valuable the turf looks, the more companies will get into the fray and the more interesting new developments you’ll see, especially from unusual newcomers like Zediva and Fandor.

And what that means in the end, or should mean, anyway, is better, cheaper and more variety for consumers, which I call good no matter how you slice it.