Time Warner CFO: Netflix Not Giving Us The `Right Economics'
10 September 2009 - 3:24AM
Dow Jones News
DOW JONES (New York)--Time Warner Inc. (TWX) Chief Financial
Officer John Martin said Wednesday that the media giant is
dissatisfied with its business coming from Netflix Inc. (NFLX), the
online DVD rental service.
At an investor conference in Marina del Rey, Calif., Martin said
Netflix was "not an unimportant" distribution channel for Time
Warner's film unit, Warner Bros., but "we don't think we're getting
enough economics out of this particular channel."
Time Warner said in August that it's seeking new distribution
deals with Netflix and Redbox, a chain of low-cost DVD rental
kiosks owned by Coinstar Inc. (CSTR). The move comes as the film
industry suffers a sharp decline in DVD retail sales - the
industry's chief engine of profits - that many view as a permanent
trend.
Warner Bros., like several other major film studios, has a
revenue-sharing agreement in place with Netflix, but as the
company's customer base has grown, the studio has become
dissatisfied with its end of the bargain.
Meanwhile, it's seeking to impose a 28-day delay for its new
releases rented by Redbox.
Martin said all the various DVD rental channels have a place in
the market, but he said from Time Warner's standpoint, the industry
has to put them in the right distribution window for the economics
to work out.
"You have to imagine that when a consumer enters a store and
sees a $1 DVD rental kiosk at the front of the store, you've got
strong reason to believe that's damaging the value proposition when
we're trying to sell DVDs in the back of the store," said
Martin.
"We ought to be able to participate in the right way and get the
right economics of our products, as the creators and owners of
quality content," he added.
-By Nat Worden, Dow Jones Newswires; (212) 416-2472;
nat.worden@dowjones.com