TV downloads, a threat to video stores

Sydney, July 17 (ANI): With the advent of technology allowing movies to be downloaded on demand, the local video stores are in danger of fading away.

Foxtel IQ, Telstra's T-box and fetchTV allow movies to be downloaded whenever the viewer wants to watch them.

In the last few weeks, Blockbuster stores at Ashfield, Bondi Junction and Enmore have closed their doors, as well as a Video Ezy outlet in Paddington.

A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers outlook predicted digital downloads would grow by a massive 176 percent in the next few years.

David Wiadrowski of PWC said a key factor would be of the national broadband network, meaning faster downloads.

But he added that other competing forces were already in play, including Oovie, the DVD-rental vending machines, and companies such as Quickflix, an online rental and movie-subscription company.

"I don't think it's really the end of the video stores ... but they will need to innovate," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Wiadrowski as saying.

John Menlove of Video Ezy said the change had allowed the business to move to smaller - and less expensive - premises because every title did not have to be on display for store browsers.

Menlove admitted the shop had lost business because of digital downloads, but that was just one competitor, he said.

However the bigger threat was piracy, with illegally copied DVDs selling for just a couple of dollars at dodgy stores in the city, he said.

Daniel Crisford of Dr What video store said that people spent more time on Facebook and YouTube, or, influenced by programs such as MasterChef, spent longer cooking dinner, he said.

"These are things that all affect people's time, more than downloads," he added.

"Most video shops do 70 per cent from new releases. We are probably the reverse.

"Most people come to us for the back catalogue, or if they're doing film research or they're just movie enthusiasts," he said.

However, Ross Walden Australian Video Rental Retailers Association of insisted: "Reports of the industry's death have been greatly exaggerated." (ANI)