“ULTIMATE MOVIE WEEKEND” DIGITAL RENTAL SALE RUNS FRIDAY THRU MONDAY
LOS ANGELES, CA (May 31, 2019) . .. A large segment of the digital video retailing sector, including online movie services and cable and satellite providers, is presenting for the first time in the U.S. a multi-platform, multi-studio digital movie rental sale this coming weekend, Friday, May 31 through Monday, June 3. Dubbed “Ultimate Movie Weekend,” the campaign will offer recent releases and catalog movies from Lionsgate Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Participating digital retailers and cable and satellite companies include Altice USA’s Optimum and Suddenlink TV, Amazon Prime Video, the Apple TV app and iTunes, Atlantic Broadband, Comcast’s Xfinity TV, Cox, DIRECTV, DISH, FandangoNOW, Frontier Communications, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV, PlayStation Store, Redbox On Demand, U-Verse, and Vudu.
The tagline for Ultimate Movie Weekend is “Rent the Biggest Movies for Less,” and participating retailers will offer between 50 and 250 movies at discounted prices as low as $2.99 for recent releases and $0.99 for catalog movies. The Ultimate Movie Weekend sale includes some of the latest releases that are not yet available on subscription video services. Among the movies in the promotion are A Star Is Born (2018), Bumblebee, Fifty Shades of Grey, First Man, Forrest Gump, The Hunger Games, Robin Hood (2018), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Step Brothers, and Wonder Woman.
The promotional campaign will be supported by a significant media buy, social media marketing, direct-to-consumer outreach, and a dedicated website, www.ultimatemovieweekend.com. The Ultimate Movie Weekend sale is patterned after similar successful efforts last year in Australia, France, and the U.K.
“While the popularity of digital movie rentals continues to grow, there is the opportunity to introduce even more consumers to the value and convenience of digital rental, so the industry has come together to offer a compelling promotion that we hope will attract new customers and remind infrequent digital renters of this option,” noted Mark Fisher, President & CEO of the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA), which is coordinating the effort. “Plus, with the start of the summer, which is traditionally a heavy movie-viewing season, it’s a good time to remind consumers of the pleasure of getting together with family and friends for a movie night.”
According to industry statistics, in the first quarter of 2019, digital rental generated $564 million in consumer spending, which accounted for approximately 10% of all home entertainment consumer spending in the quarter.
“This is the first effort of its kind in the U.S., and the breadth of participants demonstrates that the home entertainment industry is making it a priority to communicate the value proposition of digital rentals to consumers,” said Richard Smith, Senior Vice President, Domestic Digital Sales, Paramount Pictures and chair of EMA’s Ultimate Movie Weekend planning committee. “We see significant potential to grow this sector of the industry, and in doing so grow the overall home entertainment market.”
“Our studio partners have assembled a fantastic slate of movies, many unavailable on subscription services, which FandangoNOW will offer at compelling prices,” declared Cameron Douglas, Vice President, Home Entertainment, Fandango and Chair of EMA. “Convenience and value have always been the hallmark of home entertainment, and these great movies at discounted prices draws attention to the ease and affordability of renting
digitally.”
About EMA
The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) is a not-for-profit international trade association for those engaged in the sale, rental, and/or commercial delivery of video or video game content to consumers through physical media or over-the-top Internet-based delivery.
EMA-member companies operate physical and digital retailing, digital platforms and streaming services around the world, offer content for retailers and streaming services, and provide service and technology for the industry. Membership comprises the full spectrum of retailers, distributors, the home video divisions of major and independent motion picture and television studios, video game publishers, and other related businesses that constitute and support the $40 billion home entertainment industry.
EMA was established in April 2006 through the merger of the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) and the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (lEMA).
Visit the Ultimate Movie Weekend website at ww.ultimatemovieweekend.com.
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For more information, please contact:
Sean Bersell
EMA
818-531-4362 or sbersell@entmerch.org