Multiplex majors PVR and Inox have voiced concerns over Reliance Industries Ltd's proposed plan of bringing 'first-day first show' movies on its Fibre powered set-top box.

RIL's proposed plan, announced at the company's 42nd Annual General Meeting by chairman Mukesh Ambani on Monday, will be launched in the middle of 2020 for its premium Jio Gigafiber customers.

Commenting on the plan, PVR Cinemas in an exchange filing said, "For decades, the theatrical release window has been a valuable model for exhibitors and producers alike. In India and globally, producers have respected the release windows and kept a sacrosanct gap between the theatrical release date & the date of release on all other platforms, i.e. DVD, DTH, TV, OTT etc."

Reiterating PVR's statement, Inox Leisure Ltd said that the producer of the film is the owner of the creative content and is therefore entitled to choose the platform for distribution and consumption of his content.

"We would also like to point out that producers, distributors and multiplex owners in India have mutually agreed to an exclusive theatrical window of 8 weeks, between the theatrical release of a movie, and release on any other platform. This exclusive theatrical window is a model that is followed internationally, in order to ensure the robust financial viability of all the segments of the sector, and has been replicated in India," Inox said in a press release.

As per FICCI report on India’s media and entertainment sector released in March 2019, out of the total Filmed entertainment revenues of Rs 17,450 crore in 2018, theatrical box office (domestic & overseas) contribution was about 75 percent.

Inox added that the proposed move made by RIL will jeopardise a significant revenue stream for multiplexes as between 60-70 percent of the revenues of any movie comes from the domestic theatrical exhibition.

In 2018, the cinema industry in the US and Canada recorded $11.9 billion while the Chinese box office recorded $7.9 billion, PVR said in the statement.

Shares of PVR Cinemas fell over 8 percent to Rs 1,345.25 per share while Inox shares were down 10 percent at Rs 270.95 per share. At 9:40 AM, the broader index Nifty50 index was down 0.45 percent.

Disclosure:

RIL, the promoter of Reliance Jio, also controls Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com.

First Published:Aug 13, 2019 9:58 AM IST