Studios continue to fine tune the balance between theatrical, transactional and Pay-One windows in order to maximise the potential revenue for all stages of a movie’s lifespan. Transactional releases such as PVOD/PEST can risk cannibalising box office revenue, and speedy Pay-One releases likewise can risk the same for transactional revenue. Movie Tracker reveals how the studios’ timing strategies for release differ from each other in the US.
Disney is one of the most consistent studios, with their average timings reflecting a defined strategy for its content. Movie titles typically arrive to Disney+ three months after theatrical release, with a lead time on transactional a few weeks before. Main exceptions to this include its biggest blockbuster winners, particularly those that sit outside the four main brand pillars of the SVOD service.
Lionsgate has the longest gap between theatrical release and Pay-One premiere, despite the studio’s tendency to vertically integrate its titles onto Starz in Pay-One. This approach grants titles four months of transactional exclusivity on average.
NBCUniversal sees most of its titles going to Peacock before then going on to Amazon Prime at a later date in a second window. While on average its titles premiere on the platform in a similar timeframe to Disney titles on Disney+, there is much more variation in release timings. ‘Oppenheimer’ for instance took almost seven months to arrive onto the platform in Pay-One.
Paramount also has made exceptions for some of its biggest releases, with ‘Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning’, mirroring ‘Oppenheimer’ by taking almost seven months to come to Paramount+. Many of Paramount’s other titles such as ‘Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves’ and ‘Scream VI’ instead saw simultaneous release times across Paramount+ and transactional, showing a prioritisation of Paramount+ over a transactional exclusive window. Some experimentation is still taking place, as ’Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ had a brief PVOD window two weeks ahead of a simultaneous release on Paramount+ and regular transactional pricing.
Without an SVOD service of its own Sony has less to balance and so provides a healthy period on average between theatrical and their titles typical release on Netflix five months later. Through this they perhaps resemble the closest to a traditional pre-COVID releasing strategy, although engaging with Netflix as a Pay-One buyer rather than a cable service.
Finally Warner has been one of the more active in the PVOD space, with many titles coming to PVOD such as its more recent DC Universe entries. As they vertically integrate all of their content onto Max (traditionally doing so onto HBO pre-COVID), most titles see their Pay-One window occur in the third month after theatrical premiere. A notable exception is ‘Barbie’, which took over four months to come to Max, after a later than usual PVOD release at just under two months.
While many studios are starting to settle in to a general timing strategy for their content they are remaining nimble and experimental so they can react to a changing market. The diversity at play between studios and often between individual titles demonstrates there is no one-size-fits-all-solution. Different pressures will inevitably affect the release strategies abroad making them difficult to replicate on a global scale, making an understanding of these trends all the more essential when tailoring strategies in both domestic and international markets.
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