HAS THE END OF THE DVD ERA ARRIVED?
How will we be able to watch DVDs from now on?
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Dear Kerugma Supporter,
Amazon closes it's “Media on Demand” service.
Most of Kerugma’s DVDs by Dr Randall Smith, Dave Hunt, Bill Randles and others are available on Amazon (www.amazon.com), especially for the supporters of Kerugma in the USA and other countries outside of South Africa. Recently we were informed by Amazon that because of a decline in their users’ interest in DVDs they will close down their DVD department called “Media on Demand” (MOD) on June 4, 2021. Amazon’s decision is based on an increase in demand for streaming services. People are rather buying videos online to watch on their cell phones, computers and TVs. The DVDs will no longer be available from Amazon, meaning they will also not be available as DVDs outside of South Africa.
We encourage everyone who has considered placing orders from Amazon for DVDs, to do so by the end of May, or at the latest before the 4th of June at www.amazon.com. To ensure that you find our DVDs, type in Kerugma Productions in the search button when you access the Amazon website. This will lead you directly to the Kerugma DVDs.
People outside of South Africa will of course be able to order the DVD discs directly from Kerugma’s website at www.kerugma.org, but then the courier costs from South Africa will apply. Most of our DVDs can still be “streamed” from our website where they are available to “Rent” or to “Buy”. We are working on having the rest of the DVDs available in this way.
Since the Covid lockdown, Kerugma has experienced a sharp decline in orders for actual DVD discs. Is this the end of the DVD era? Though it would seem so, Kerugma videos will still be available on DVD.
DVD discs are still preferred by some as they are less expensive than the cost of data to view online and can be watched again and again at leisure. We therefore plan to have our video’s available on DVD for as long as we are able to locate high quality industrial DVD discs and for as long as our duplicating equipment keeps working. Because of the decrease in demand for these commodities, manufacturing of them may also stop.
HOW WILL DVDS BE VIEWED IN FUTURE?
Since the first lockdown in 2020, we have made two free DVDS available every week on our website, as well as on the “Kerugma Productions” YouTube channel. But this cannot continue indefinitely. Of course the Internet is the latest and convenient way to distribute media such as videos and DVDs and the most effective means to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are therefore working on having all the DVDS available on our website as videos, which can be bought or streamed. In addition to that, we are uploading audio sermons weekly that can be downloaded and listened to free of charge.
Since putting up a number of our DVDS on YouTube, some viewers have complained about advertisements interrupting the videos. The interruption is out of our hands as YouTube receives its income paid by the advertisers, each time an advertisement is viewed. Unfortunately, YouTube has also started to add advertisements with “adult content” and especially onto Christian videos. We therefore recommend people rather “rent” or “buy” videos on the Kerugma website, which will guarantee no interruptions. As you will see, there is a minimal cost involved, but the small charge will enable Kerugma to keep all of its products on the Internet.
Kerugma is paying a sizeable amount each month to have Internet with enough data and speed to be able to upload our DVDS onto the different platforms. In addition to that we also have the costs of the website, as well as the maintenance thereof. The uploading of the audio sermons is done via a company that is charging a monthly rate for their service. Although it is free for the listener, it is not a free service. The same applies to the uploading of the DVDs on our website and YouTube. This is done via Vimeo which company bills us annually.
Up until this point, none of these costs could be paid from the sales of videos. But we remain fully dependant upon the Lord for all costs for which we are responsible. And after all these years we are still proclaiming the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in the knowledge that “our Father knows what we need before we ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). And we can certainly testify to that fact.
We also pray for you all, knowing that God will provide your every need. Therefore, please approach Him with the confidence that He would be delighted to hear your request.
May the Lord bless you.
Naas and Marina le Roux
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