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April 23, 2009
Serving The Customer
I was not aware of, until last night, WB's Red2Blu site, which allows HD movie buyers to get Blu-rays to replace the now obsolete discs for just $4.95 a pop. It doesn't cover all the WB HDs that are now on Blu, but it's a nice offer and a smart play for Warners, as it gets Blu-ray buyers on their website - as opposed to Amazon or others - and gives a nice, warm feeling of loyalty of the company to people who have been buyers in the past. And they likely make a buck or two in the deal to boot.
Also interesting was a piece of mail today that came in offering a year of EW for $10... with an extra coupon to let a friend in on the same offer. $10. Does that cover postage? Got to keep those subscription rates up.
I had a conversation just a couple of days ago with an Academy member who didn't pay for a Variety subscription, but was sent the paper daily for years anyway... I suppose so Variety could claim that all Academy members (or some very high percentage) received the print version of the paper which charges so very much for that front cover during Oscar season. The paper stopped showing up on his doorstep each morning in February of this year. Will it start again in October? Probably. But interesting times... interesting times...
Posted by dpoland at April 23, 2009 05:03 PM
Comments
Don't know if you read the fine print, DP, but each Red2Blu order has a shipping and handling charge of $6.95. That's some crazy Ticketmaster shit. Strange because every DVD order through Amazon is only $3.00.
Fuck Warners. I'm not paying $20 for their Archive DVD-Rs, and I'm certainly not paying $12 for a format upgrade.
Posted by: lazarus ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 23, 2009 08:08 PM
Er, David: I got the EW offer in the mail quite a few months ago. (And took advantage of it.) And, actually, it's not the cheapest magazine subscription offer I've received in recent years. As you indicate: Publications are eager to maintain circulation levels.
Posted by: Joe Leydon at April 23, 2009 08:24 PM
Yeah, my $10 EW subscription just lapsed, so I renewed for another $10. I'm not even that big a fan of the magazine, but that's not a bad price for a year's worth of bathroom reading.
Posted by: yancyskancy at April 23, 2009 08:55 PM
Strange because every DVD order through Amazon is only $3.00.
They tack on an additional $1 per disc.
Posted by: Bob Violence at April 24, 2009 08:55 AM
The bit to Red2Blu program is you don't have to send in your discs, right? Just the boxes?
Doesn't the $7 charge cover all the shipping if you have multiple boxes to send in?
Posted by: Tofu at April 24, 2009 12:25 PM
They only want you to send in the HD-DVD cover art slips. So you get to keep the discs and cases. Plus it's a single $6.95 shipping & handling charge whether you trade in 1 disc or up to the limit of 25. A pretty good deal all the way around.
Posted by: seymourgrant at April 24, 2009 01:16 PM
David I read your site every day but this is the first time I've posted a comment. I just simply wanted to say thanks for the heads up on the EW offer. My subscription just lapsed and I was paying $20.00 yr. I called them and got the $10.00 yr rate. Last laugh is on me if they go web only though I guess.
Posted by: azmoviegoer at April 24, 2009 02:48 PM
Entertainment Weekly is essentially Twilight Weekly these days.
(For 10 years it had been Buffy Weekly.)
It's become such an irritating magazine. I seem to remember some of the pieces and criticism from Tucker and Gleiberman being more incisive at one point, and that some of the feature writers used to be better.
Now everything is filtered through this tiresome "snarky" camp/TWOP/Best Week Ever sensibility, the guiltiest offender being the TV section, which all those corny two-sentence capsule reviews featuring sub-Kathy Griffin snark lines.
Not to mention the always irritating Mark Harris/Diablo Cody/Stephen King column, which is usually just some random association bullshit from the latter two or some Great Defender of Actresses tear from the douchey former.
Posted by: LexG at April 24, 2009 03:06 PM
I've substribed to EW since the early 90s. Just let it lapse and will not renew. It used to be a nice mix of legitimate entertainment reporting, feature writing and reviews, but its format has grown stale and uninspired.
Lex is right...EW's insistance on trying to stay ahead of the culture curve by constantly touting tired shit like The Hills and Twilight bores me incessantly. Bye bye, EW.
Posted by: Wrecktum at April 24, 2009 04:19 PM
Ok, I've got to admit that every point that Lex G and Wrecktum made about EW was completely valid. I feel like a complete idiot for wasting my money on this rag now.
Did I mention that I'm only paying 17 cents an issue?
Posted by: azmoviegoer at April 24, 2009 05:44 PM
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