• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, May 8, 2007

If the most powerful cable operator in the land -- Comcast Corp. -- had its way, it would have sold “Spider-Man 3” this past weekend to homebound viewers for $50 a pop.  

Comcast wants movie studios to let it sell theatrical movies when they come out in theaters -- on a so-called “day and date’” schedule.

The studios would like nothing more than to grab extra revenue. But they have some worried theater owners to think of. Comcast’s argument: Many times entertainment options don’t cannibalize and do in fact help grow overall business -- DVDs for one, and the new Internet airing of TV shows, for another.

With often-lower attendance in the theaters, movie studios would of course welcome the chance to grab a piece of those entertainment viewers -- mostly older viewers, no doubt -- who don’t or can’t mix it up with the younger set on opening weekends.

Theater owners shouldn’t fret. Young movie-goers probably don’t want to stay at home on a Friday or Saturday night, watching movies alone. It’s better to laugh, cry, and pour popcorn on your clothes in front of all your friends.

Comcast, of course, is looking for the next big wave of revenue. The so-called “triple play” of services -- phone, Internet, and video -- has done incredibly well for most cable operators. It’s given them a competitive difference from satellite distributors.

Comcast’s proposed price tag should only make theater owners happy: At $30 to $50 per movie premiere, studios can assure theater owners that those consumers able to fork out that kind of cash won’t be the usual customers at the theater. 

Still, movie studios will be slow to move on this trend -- not wanting to bite the hand that feeds them. But remember, TV networks went through the same business a year ago. In that regard, perhaps studios need to make theater owners more of a partner, just as the networks did with TV stations.

According to Comcast COO Steve Burke, stranger things have happened.  At the National Cable & Telecommunications Association conference yesterday in Las Vegas, he asked who would have believed five years ago that today you’d be able to see prime-time shows on the Internet -- for free.