Distribution of film research

My research into the distribution of films has helped me understand a lot more about how films are released.

When a film is being produced, there are always people who work out how and when the film should be released to the public. These people are the film distributors. Their job is to determine a marketing strategy, the media by which a film is to be exhibited and may set the release date etc.

The film can be exhibited to the public through many different ways. For example, a cinema or movie theater, where someone will pay for a single viewing of the film (often prior to its release on other types of media.)
Television, where different network stations may purchase the rights to show the film to the public on one of their channels.
Personal home viewing, this includes releases on DVD, Blu-ray disc, download etc. And also includes streaming sites such as Netflix, LoveFilm and Blinkbox where the viewer can own their own copy of the film permanently or have inlimited access to it by subscribing to streaming sites for as long as it remains up.