Press Release Warner and Universal to Merge Domestic Disc Business (1 Viewer)

[Jesse Skeen]

In the laserdisc days it was pretty much just Pioneer and Image doing the distribution, and promoting the format in general. Prices were a bit insane, but other than that I wouldn't mind a return to that if it was an acknowledgement that the people buying their stuff were the ones who cared about quality.

There's a perfectly practical reason for lower sales overall though- some of us are out of shelf space!

 

[Alan Tully]

There's a perfectly practical reason for lower sales overall though- some of us are out of shelf space!

Yup, that's certainly the case with me. I live in a small house & there's discs all over the place (& a ridiculous amount of unwatched TV box sets), so a New Years resolution was, buy only must-have titles, & there's a few hundred of those. So any company wanting my money, easy, just release something I want.

 

[jcroy]

In the laserdisc days it was pretty much just Pioneer and Image doing the distribution, and promoting the format in general. Prices were a bit insane, but other than that I wouldn't mind a return to that if it was an acknowledgement that the people buying their stuff were the ones who cared about quality.

It turns out there's only really one giant cd/dvd/bluray discs manufacturer left in north america: Thomson/Technicolor plant in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Currently Disney, Universal, Warner, Paramount, Sony and other smaller movie companies (such as Cinedigm, etc ...) all manufacture their dvds and blurays at this giant Mexico plant. Every disc manufactured at this Thomson/Technicolor plant will have an ifpi code KK** (where ** are alphanumeric wildcards) stamped in the first transparent plastic ring away from the center of the disc.

Though the issue of whether they actually "care about quality" is questionable in regard to disc quality control.

 

[jcroy]

Currently I have no idea where Fox's dvds/blurays are manufactured.

For many years previously, Fox and Lionsgate had their dvds/blurays manufactured at Thomson/Technicolor's plant in Huntsville, Alabama. Discs manufactured in this Huntsville planet will have an ifpi code 2F** (where ** are alphanumeric wildcards) stamped in the first transparent plastic ring away from the center of the disc.

(I don't currently own any Fox dvd/bluray titles which were released after the Disney/Fox merger).

 

[Lord Dalek]

Doesn't this just mean they're merging their disc plants?

 

[jcroy]

If there's any truth to online rumors, there's a whisper that the Technicolor dvd/bluray discs manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama might be closing down.

 

[jcroy]

Doesn't this just mean they're merging their disc plants?

No.

Once a dvd/bluray disc manufacturing plant is closed, just about all the old equipment is liquidated by being auctioned off.

 

[jcroy]

For example, when Thomson/Technicolor closed down their old WEA-Cinram cd/dvd/bluray disc manufacturing plant in Olyphant, Pennsylvania back in 2018, just about everything was auctioned off.

https://www.myronbowling.com/Leading-CD-DVD-Manufacturer-979C147.html

https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/technicolor-unloads-thousands-of-items-at-auction-1.2299915

https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/...-celebrate-history-ahead-of-closure-1.2351194

 

[jcroy]

Sad to see such pictures of cd/dvd/bluray disc manufacturing equipment being liquidated.

 

[jcroy]

If you have any cd/dvd/bluray discs with ifpi code 2U** (where ** are alphanumeric wildcards) stamped in the first transparent plastic ring away from the center of the disc, it was manufactured at this former Technicolor/Cinram/WEA disc manufacturing plant in Olyphant, PA.

For example, such as many Warner released dvds/blurays/hddvds manufactured before 2010.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Technicolor/Cinram/WEA disc manufacturing plant in Olyphant, PA.

For example, such as many Warner released dvds/blurays/hddvds manufactured before 2010.

Many of which are now unplayable due to rot.

Image never manufactured discs, they licensed and distributed titles. The discs were manufactured by a number of companies in both the US and Japan.

 

[jcroy]

Image never manufactured discs, they licensed and distributed titles. The discs were manufactured by a number of companies in both the US and Japan.

IIRC back in the day, one big laserdisc manufacturing plant was Sony DADC in Terre Haute, Indiana.

https://forum.lddb.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=5980

That Terre Haute plant was Sony's primary facility for manufacturing their cds/dvds/blurays/4Kblurays and PS2/PS3/PS4 discs in america, until 2018 when it was closed down for everything but PS4 discs.

https://fox59.com/2018/01/17/sony-disc-plant-in-terre-haute-laying-off-around-380-workers/

Since mid-2018, this is why Sony's dvds and blurays have been manufactured at Thomson/Technicolor's facility in Mexico ever since.

 

[Reed Grele]

Saw a video on YouTube about this. If this means that Universal and WB will be able to join forces to cut replication costs, I'm hopeful that physical media will still be around for at least another 10 years.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Image never manufactured discs, they licensed and distributed titles. The discs were manufactured by a number of companies in both the US and Japan.

The most notorious was Technodisc, which Warner used quite frequently.

 

[MatthewA]

Oh my, I remember how many laserdiscs from that Terre Haute plant got laser rot. Not a pretty sight.

Saw a video on YouTube about this. If this means that Universal and WB will be able to join forces to cut replication costs, I'm hopeful that physical media will still be around for at least another 10 years.

If they're cutting replication costs, then they're also cutting excuses not to release certain titles.

 

[Thomas T]

If they're cutting replication costs, then they're also cutting excuses not to release certain titles.

Are they? I'd guess that they're cutting costs because they're seeing their profits slowly shrinking on physical media (especially catalog titles). Cutting costs will allow them to do just what they've been doing for a while longer.

 

[jcroy]

In the end, lowering fees (or zero fees once all the patents expire) will probably do nothing significant when it comes to consumer level.

That el-cheapo $20 generic Sony dvd player manufactured in China, will probably still be a $20 dvd player. Both before and after complete patent expiration.

 

[jcroy]

Do you really believe the manufacturers are going pass on those "savings" to the consumer?

(Either in terms of super el cheapo hardware, and/or a higher volume of $5 movie titles released).

 

[jcroy]

If they're cutting replication costs, then they're also cutting excuses not to release certain titles.

This sounds like putting the cart before the horse.

 

[timk1041]

Yup, that's certainly the case with me. I live in a small house & there's discs all over the place (& a ridiculous amount of unwatched TV box sets), so a New Years resolution was, buy only must-have titles, & there's a few hundred of those. So any company wanting my money, easy, just release something I want.

Sounds just like me!