Slashdot Mirror
Wal-Mart Turns Over DVD Rentals to Netflix
prostoalex writes "US retail giant Wal-Mart is turning its DVD rental business to Netflix. No word on how much money the deal is worth but Netflix will feature promotional Wal-Mart links for the 100K customers it gets from the retail chain."
Usually it's the other way around with Wal-Mart.
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
Hooray for a rare win for the little guys! I've been a Netflix customer since the beginning so I'm happy to see a deal that promises to keep Netflix around a little longer. That just leaves Amazon and Blockbuster. Personally, I'd like to see Amazon do a similar deal with Netflix rather than try to crush them. Why? Because Netflix has become a good brand in the DVD mail rental space, so Amazon may have more to gain teaming up with them than fighting.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
Wow, hooray for Netflix, I guess.
Netflix should figure out a way to use Wal-Mart as a local cache. For the hottest releases, you don't have to wait for the thing to be delivered (or even downloaded and burned >-). You hand the Wal-Mart electronics guru your Netflix card, and they put your name in the computer.
There's got to be a way to make that work more cheaply than mailing each one.
sigs, as if you care.
I managed a Blockbuster for 2 years. Worst job I ever had. Seemed like every single day there was either a lawsuit pending from someone who got screwed over, or a mistake on late fees that I had to accept being screamed at about (like it was my own personal fault), or $500 in shoplifting loss (it happens when you have enough hours to staff only 1 employee most of the time). Nothing is more mind-numbing that repeatedly opening then closing like 2000 video/DVD cases per day to verify their contents.
I mean all retail jobs blow monkey dick, but this one blew Kong. I've never set foot in any Blockbuster store since I left.
Wal-Mart sells DVDs that have had their content edited (dubbed words, cut scenes), and only mention it in small type that you have to know to look for. Otherwise the packages look almost identical to the full length versions.
It's the same kind of editing that TV stations do to show a PG-13 or R rated movie during the day.
The fact that it isn't CLEARLY labelled as such, masquerading as the real thing, IS censorship.
Hunt your preferred prey at Aliens vs Predator MUD. Join the war at avpmud.com port 4000
Well, it's not quite censorship, but it's not quite as innocent as you describe either. Wal-Mart only sells "radio friendly" CDs (I don't know about DVDs). A CD you buy at Wal-Mart may not be the same CD you buy at a local CD shop, despite identical packaging. Wal-Mart has the buying power to get labels to press special edited versions of their CDs for sale just in Wal-Mart. This isn't necessarily a problem in and of itelf. The problem is that Wal-Mart doesn't tell anyone about this.
Correct, it's not actually censorship in the true sense of the word. A better description would be that Wal-Mart's business decisions are a "very powerful influence."
My girlfriend works for a label manufacturer that prints labels for a well known motor oil company. They've had to re-design labels entirely, because the bottle that the company uses had changed shape. The exclusive reason is because Wal-Mart did not like the way the bottle handle was positioned when they were put on the shelf. So a multi-million dollar repackaging was set in order.
Any manufacturer of consumer products, or even services as this case seems to be, stands to lose a TON of revenue if Wal-Mart decides that they don't want to play ball with you anymore.
There's no doubt that Netflix would be persuaded to do just about anything that Wal-Mart requests of them.
"No fair, you changed the outcome by measuring it!" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth
Didn't work that way. Got transferred to Netflix's new account page with the wrong service option selected and everything else blank. Had the software worked properly, I would now be a Netflix customer but it didn't so I checked out Blockbuster's offer. So if anyone at Netflix is reading this, especially if you're the developer, your bug cost you a customer. Blockbuster looks to have a better deal than Netflix - something I probably wouldn't have noticed had your code worked properly.
It's a shame Walmart quit. When they entered the market, Netflix raised their monthly service fee, realized that wasn't the brightest thing to way to compete with the world's largest retailer and subsequently lowered their fees to match Walmart's. Both companies then proceeded to add a whole lot more titles to their mix - or at least claim they did. The overall effect of Walmart's entry into this field was to increase competition and improve the offerings. I frequently saw a 2 day turnaround from mailing a DVD to receiving its replacement. With Walmart's exit, I wouldn't be surprised to see a concurrent dimunition of service from the remaining players.
Wait... are you telling me that Wal-mart entered a market and wasn't able to successfully drive everyone else out by lowering prices below cost then gouge once there were no competitors left?
Someone tell Bill Quinn, author of How Wal-Mart is Destroying America and The World and What You Can Do About It
Then I started watching them... and noticed DUBBING over some swear words... WHAT THE HELL? Scenes were missing... the same ones that USA or TNT would cut out (In the Lawnmower man, the only GOOD parts were removed). Needless to say, I was SO furious, I too refuse to shop at the place
I don't believe you. Producing an edited version and an unedited version of a DVD is an expensive proposition and not something a studio is going to do for DVDs that sell for ~$5. It would almost certainly be a money loser even at the volumes wally-world buys at.
I purchased lawnmower man from the same wal-mart dump bins. So, please post the timecode for an example of this editing and I will go and try to confirm it on my copy tonight.
My friend saw the movie "The Sweet Hereafter" on an airplane and they cut out the whole father/daughter incest storyline, understandable but kind of ruins a couple plot-points.
Who knows what other cuts are made on other films.