• by January 9, 2004

BUSTING BLOCKBUSTER - It's been a while since the Riff has seen a really good pissing match brewing among the major media conglomerates and a new assault by Walt Disney Co. on the video rental marketplace may be just enough to get new sabers rattling between the mouse house and Viacom, which for the moment, is still heavily invested in the dominant homevideo retailer, Blockbuster Video. While Viacom continues to develop exit strategies for the video rental marketplace, Disney has beamed light years ahead with a new video-on-demand service it has begun deploying in key markets and which could ultimately emerge as the Blockbuster of VOD. The service, dubbed MovieBeam, was launched in selected markets in September 2003 and already is developing a devoted following of frustrated video renters. By giving consumers instant access in their homes to the same new films being released on DVD and video, MovieBeam essentially recreates a Blockbuster store inside the TV box. Best of all, it ensures instant gratification (unlike pay-per-view, you view it when you want), guarantees you get the flick you desired (no bait-and-switching from unavailable titles at video rental stores), no need to return DVDs or video cassettes, and, most significantly, absolutely no late fees. This last feature is being heavily emphasized by Disney's marketing team, as new research indicates it may be the Achilles heel of the video rental marketplace.

Eighty-two percent of respondents to a new survey commissioned by Disney say late fees are the most irritating part of their video rental experience. In fact, the study, which was conducted by COMsciences Worldwide, also found that 60 percent of video renters worry so much about late fees that it actually takes the fun out of their movie-watching experience. Such fears are understandable when you consider the huge sums consumers are shelling out on late charges. Consumers in one of MovieBeam's markets, Salt Late City, for example, said they pay $7.50 per month in late fees, or $90 a year. When you consider that those same consumers said they spend only $200 per year on their actual video rentals, you can truly begin to understand their frustration, not to mention the hidden profits derived by Blockbuster from late charges. According to COMsciences, late fees account for a third of total video rental market revenues in Salt Lake City. While that's significantly higher than estimates for the national average - Video Store Magazine has reported that late fees are a $1 billion a year industry, accounting for 12 percent of U.S. consumer spending on video rentals. It is not the most egregious discovered by Disney. That distinction goes to residents of Jacksonville, Fla., who said they pay an average of nearly $225 per year on video late fees, or nearly 40 percent of their annual video rental spending. Now if Disney can figure out a way of extending the service to printed matter, the Riff might just turn in its library card, not to mention some long overdue books.

FINAL JEOPARDY - Steven Dorfman. The question is: Who wrote some of the most memorable questions - make that answers - for nearly 20 years on the Riff's favorite game show. Dorfman, who penned more than 50,000 of the clues for Alex Trebek's incarnation of "Jeopardy" - including many of the show's most inspired - died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 48.