Becki Patterson, Business Writer
Marcia McDonnough, a principal in Viewer's Choice, says the company could not compete with street sales and movie downloads. - Contributed
Viewer's Choice 2000, a DVD rental company around for 20 years, has gone out of business, citing unmatchable competition from pirated movies and Internet downloads.
The business, which once operated from three venues in Kingston, was shuttered three months ago.
"Piracy has shrunk the market so there is less pie for lawful businesses to share," said Marcia McDonnough, principal in the company.
"Buying, albeit a very poor quality DVD is more attractive then renting one."
Movies are available on the black market for as low as $100 to about $150 per DVD, compared to rentals which are priced around $250. The sellers operate openly on the streets, vending from stalls and backpacks - a practice that is widespread in major towns across Jamaica.
No halt
Even efforts by Jamaica Intellectual Property Office's Copyright Unit, acting with the police on raids to confiscate the contraband, have not halted the illicit trade.
And, while it has sent Viewers Choice out of business, other operations are struggling, including cinema company Palace Amusement, whose profitability has also been hard hit.
Dampened movie sales - it costs about $450 for theatre tickets - have wiped out the company's profits forcing it into a loss position. Palace's most recently announced project to break the cycle was 3D movies, yet to come on stream.
Viewer's Choice, meantime, sees even greater competition from teens and savvy Internet consumers.
"The street selling is one thing, but youngsters who sit at their computers for hours and hours and download everything is another," said McDonnough.
Losing battle
"They can put into circulation movies that have not even been released to DVD in the US yet. There just came a time when we at Viewer's Choice faced up to the fact that trying to compete with these two is a losing battle."
McDonnough says the piracy problem will be solved only when there is no market for movies - in other words, it never will.
She points out that policing has so far been an ineffective control, and says more education on property rights and the con-sequences of violating the copyright law is needed.
Palace's most recently announced project to break the cycle was 3D movies, yet to come on stream.
Viewer's Choice, meantime, sees even greater competition from teens and savvy Internet consumers.
"The street selling is one thing, but youngsters who sit at their computers for hours and hours and download everything is another," said McDonnough.
Losing battle
"They can put into circulation movies that have not even been released to DVD in the US yet. There just came a time when we at Viewer's Choice faced up to the fact that trying to compete with these two is a losing battle."
McDonnough says the piracy problem will be solved only when there is no market for movies - in other words, it never will.
She points out that policing has so far been an ineffective control, and says more education on property rights and the con-sequences of violating the copyright law is needed.
But even then, McDonnough is unsure how far education will go to change behaviour among youngsters who want instant gratification and can get it via high speed Internet downloads.
Viewer's Choice 2000 was a subsidiary operation of Entertain-ment and Media Solutions (EMS), a company that provides sales and services in audio-visual equipment, such as big screens for mass-audience shows.
Viewer's Choice, as a rental company, was around for more than 20 years. Its original business was VHS tape rental. The '2000' was appended to the name of the business when the digital platform for movies became the dominant format.
"We were the first to introduce DVD rental in Jamaica. The technology at the time was so new we also had to offer DVD players for sale. At that time, we were able to adapt our operations and therefore transitioned from a VHS-based product to DVD," said McDonnough.
"Of course, we considered various other business models in the industry to manage the changes - a DVD exchange and the Netflix model - but in both cases it was deemed inappropriate given our cultural dynamics in which people believe if there is no rental/usage there should be no fees, no subscription."
Netflix movies in the United States are ordered online and mailed out to customers.
Over time, Viewer's Choice moved from top position to a 40 per cent share of the market, according to McDonnough.
At the height of business, the rental outfit had three outlets - at AZ Mart In Barbican, Manor Park, and Hope Road - and employed 25 people.
At the time of closing, only Hope Road was operational and staff had been reduced to eight.
beckipatterson@hotmail.com
Inside a Viewer's Choice outlet in Kingston. The business closed down three months ago. - file
