happy faces, page-24

Guys

Emotive back chat wont assist the go forward in any way.

Only way RMA has a way forward is via a strategic alliance with someone that already has a vested interest in the industry;

This includes
Video Store Rental Operators
DVD Retailers
Free to Air TV
PayTV

and I rank them in order of likelyhood/benefit to RMA and the what RMA can offer the other party

RMA has delivery system, but needs leverage with Hollywood to get more content, cheaper

It also needs a customer base (preferably online) but also complimented by bricks and mortar, as, the STB is a long term strategy to own the customer, and can be complimentary to in store services (but not the silly idea of having to buy proprietary hardware as in Video Ezy;s case - my belief is it needs to be a Microsoft Box so it can access DVD, EPG, PVR, HD TV etc without subscription - ie a media centre - because customers will see value as a standalone proposition)

Out of that, it leaves as options;

Rental
*Video Ezy, with a strategic realign on STB strategy (which Andrew Gardiner stated in the SMH is happening anyway) - but VE has MAJOR fanchisee issues with ANY download plan
*Network Video

Retailers
Sanity
EzyDVD
Virgin
BigW/Target/Kmart (unlikely)

of these, EzyDVD is "online" with 80 odd stores but Virgin has the "brand" but no online - so either could fi for different reasons

Free to air
FTA has "swing" only with the Hollywood studios it contracts eg Seven is Fox+Disney Nine is Warners etc - so, it would HURT RMA's chances at getting widescale access to the competing FTA supplier studios (in my view) - so, an FTA alliance would be bad, however it has upside in that it has marketing clout, and RMA may just be able to be seen as independent enough to get supply from "competing" FTATV's supplier studios.

PayTV on the other hand has access to all the studios and marketing but is less likely to come on board as it is inconsistent with its strategy

So, boiling it down, only Virgin (brand), EzyDVD (online+stores), Video Ezy (many more stores than others but with franschisee issues) makes any sense.

Chillia - care to comment?

Now, if JK and the board can pull one of these off, Im happy.