Marcus Corp. chairman and CEO Greg Marcus has a straightforward request for studios: keep the “available at home” email out of the exclusive theatrical window. The timing of home-release messaging, he argues, is now as important as the windows themselves.
On a post-earnings call, Marcus said the industry has restored longer windows, but the marketing around home viewing has not caught up. A consumer may get a note saying a title is “available at home” and not register whether that means a paid rental at $20–$25 or a later streaming debut. The mental shortcut is damaging: it feels instant, and it feels free.
The “wait” message is the problem
Marcus cited data showing the same customer purchases a title in the home whether it lands after two weeks or two months. The propensity to buy transactional video on demand at that price, he said, is about the same from week 2 through week 8. That specific customer, he argued, is not a reason to rush a home release.
In other words, an early PVOD launch does not expand the paying home audience. It mainly tells a much broader group that they can wait, which Marcus called “very, very deleterious” because it weakens the downstream value of a theatrical run.
Windows and the shifting consensus
PVOD or TVOD generally follows a 45-day exclusive theatrical window, while the consensus window to free streaming, or SVOD, is about 90 days. Marcus would like the SVOD window to be longer. His logic is commercial: a film that works in theatres builds attention, and that helps it stand out later as a tile on a streaming home screen.
Studios are not all aligned. Universal has promised a 45-day exclusive theatrical window for major releases starting in 2027. Skydance has committed to 45-day and 90-day PVOD and SVOD windows, plus restrictions on marketing home viewing options. Marcus said the industry is “coming around,” a shift that gained momentum at CinemaCon last spring after years of post-pandemic friction between studios and exhibitors.
- 45 days — typical theatrical window before PVOD/TVOD.
- 90 days — consensus window to free streaming, which Marcus wants longer.
- Week 2–8 — range in which TVOD purchase intent stays about the same.
What it means for the screen business
For media planners and entertainment marketers, the window is a release-planning decision, not just a distribution term. Early “available at home” creative can reposition a film as a home title while cinema campaigns are still running. The cost is not measured in clicks, but in the audience that mentally files the movie as “wait for it.”
Marcus also noted an upbeat third quarter, helped by younger audiences returning to cinemas. He wants older audiences back too, and said more dramas and comedies could help get adults off the couch.
Source: Deadline
