Will ‘Batman’ Video Eclipse ‘Bambi’ and ‘Roger Rabbit’?

Warner’s announcement of the November release of “Batman” on cassette has thrown a monkey wrench into the holiday home-video market. Some video companies will be hurt and the consumer will suffer to some extent. For video retailers, the presence of “Batman” will be a mixed blessing.

Before the appearance of “Batman,” Disney appeared to have cornered home video’s holiday sales market. It released “Bambi” last week at a price of $26.99 and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” is due Thursday at $22.99. Disney has shipped nearly 10 million units of “Bambi” and will send out 7.9 million “Roger Rabbit” cassettes.

But some industry observers have speculated that Disney will be hurt by “Batman” crashing the holiday party, the theory being that retailers will order “Batman” rather than reordering “Bambi” or “Roger Rabbit.”

“Batman” will be released Nov. 15 at $24.95. It’s the first blockbuster title to come to home video so soon after theatrical release--just five months. Warner wanted to capitalize on Batmania. By releasing it now, industry experts say, Warner will sell perhaps 20% more cassettes than had it waited until Batmania had subsided. The company plans to ship between 10 million and 15 million units.

Richard Cohen, senior vice president of Buena Vista Home Video, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Co., doesn’t think Disney will be hurt. “These movies have different audiences. Our product isn’t in competition with ‘Batman,’ ” he said. “ ‘Batman’ will stimulate the market in general. It won’t take away from our company’s business.”

But there is a problem nonetheless.

With video retailers laying out a lot of money for copies of these three titles, they won’t have as much to spend for other movies. That will impact on video companies--who may not be able to sell as many of their films--and the consumer, who will have a smaller selection from which to choose.

Though retailers may buy fewer rental copies of hits like RCA/Columbia’s “Ghostbusters II”--also due in mid-November--companies that put out B and C titles probably will suffer most.

“Retailers will buy the hits but they’ll pass on lesser known titles,” predicted Barry Collier, whose company, Prism Entertainment, deals in B titles. “What we do is hold back a lot of our titles until December and January, so we won’t get into head-on competition with the blockbuster titles.”

For video retailers, the best thing about “Batman” is that it will help bring in customers who may buy and rent other titles. “Titles like this generate excitement about home video,” said Ron Castell, senior vice president of the Blockbuster retail chain. “There will be a lot more traffic in the video retail stores because of ‘Batman’ and the other blockbuster titles.”

On the other hand, much of the business that these titles will generate won’t be at video stores. Buena Vista’s Cohen estimates that 60% of the “Bambi” and “Roger Rabbit” shipments will go to mass merchants, such as K mart and Target, who’ve been making inroads in home-video sales market in the last few years.

Mass merchants, which deal only in sales, covet inexpensive popular titles. They’re not looking to make big profits; instead, they heavily discount these movies, often using them as loss leaders to attract customers who might buy other items.

Conversely, video retailers do count on big profits from these titles. The problem, though, is that mass merchants drive down the price with their discounts. To stay in competition, the video retailer has to lower his price too, sacrificing profit that many can’t afford to sacrifice.

“Warner Video will make a killing on ‘Batman’ but video retailers won’t,” said Mitch Perliss, director of purchasing for the Music Plus chain. “Not with these small profit margins. The way the business is structured now for the video retailer, there’s just not a lot of money in these blockbuster titles.”