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Press Release Announcing the launch of MOVIES ANYWHERE (1 Viewer)

Wayne_j

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They probably get increased sales from people more likely to purchase a digital version if they can see it across platforms.
 

Tino

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It has already been established that this is a Disney owned service with several studios opting in essentially as junior partners.

en.m.wikipedia.org

Even if it was joint ownership, which it isn't, the question still stands. How do they make money from this? What is the angle? What did Disney promise to other studios in order for them to climb on this platform?

Make that three questions. :D

Disney has done nothing in the last few years to incur any love from me. They think their customers are marks. They consistently have some of the highest prices on their new and catalog titles if any studio. They screwed owners of 3D displays. If they had maintained support, TVs would probably still have 3D capability built-in.

I hope you guys have better luck with them in regards to this service, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Their recent track record instills zero confidence from me.
I stand corrected. I was told by a Disney Anywhere supervisor that they were equal partners. Apologies.
 

Tino

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Anyone having issues with the iTunes 4K version of Blade Runner The Final Cut? I could have sworn I owned the iTunes 4K (ported from Vudu just like all my other Warner Bros UHD copies) but it doesn’t even show up when I search for it.
 

Cranston37+

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Anyone having issues with the iTunes 4K version of Blade Runner The Final Cut? I could have sworn I owned the iTunes 4K (ported from Vudu just like all my other Warner Bros UHD copies) but it doesn’t even show up when I search for it.

Yeah, it’s a known issue with that title...
 
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Josh Steinberg

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I just connected everything and it appears to be working....

But frankly, without all the studios participating, I don't see the point of this service. Some of my movies play on iTunes; some play on Vudu via UV. That was the story before MA, and that's still the story after MA. Until I can see 100% of my collection in both stores (or, at least, 100% of the titles that both stores carry), it's still as crippled as the previous arrangement.
 

David Deeb

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But frankly, without all the studios participating, I don't see the point of this service. Some of my movies play on iTunes; some play on Vudu via UV. That was the story before MA, and that's still the story after MA. Until I can see 100% of my collection in both stores (or, at least, 100% of the titles that both stores carry), it's still as crippled as the previous arrangement.

Yes, which also adds to the question I raised on page 20 of this thread: If there is no way to incorporate films not purchased on Vudu, iTunes, Amazon or Google Play, then what is the point? (all of my digital music is in ONE place).

Right now, customers can buy films directly from filmmakers, from an independent studio, from Vimeo, Fandango, and many others (maybe Fandango is part of MA, but I'm not sure). If someone likes a foreign film enough to purchase it, it might not be accessible in MA.

It's like showing off your Blu-ray collection next to the home theater...but then having a bunch more of the collection way down in the basement, and 1 or 2 more films in a closet all by themselves. Granted, that's kind of what exists right now anyway. But maybe I'm missing something about MA.

Not entirely off the subject, but I've been using the Just Watch app this week. Very interesting. You search films & TV shows available to stream, rent or buy and add to your wishlist. It shows the best price at digital retailers: Vudu, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Crackle, Fandor, HBO, Microsoft, FilmStruck, ABC, CBS All Access, and on and on and on. This helps the user where to find/buy/rent/stream an individual film or TV show immediately.
 

Mark Booth

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I finally finished going through my entire 1,200+ title Blu-ray collection to find all of the titles with UV-only codes. They've all been input and synced as best as possible. I now have 278 titles in iTunes, 253 in Vudu, and 226 in Movies Anywhere. That's an increase of about 80 titles in iTunes. There's 20+ titles in iTunes that haven't flowed over to Vudu, I haven't tried to figure out which ones they are yet but I suspect they are mostly Paramount titles. With regard to titles that are NOT Lionsgate of Paramount, there are 4 titles in Vudu that haven't shown up in either iTunes or Movies Anywhere. Those four are:

Creed (Sony)
The Magnificent Seven 2016 (Sony)
Last Vegas (Sony)
Mud (Warner Bros)

Last Vegas isn't available in iTunes, period. Creed, Magnificent Seven and Mud are available in iTunes but they are NOT available in Movies Anywhere (which explains why they aren't showing up in iTunes).

If Lionsgate and Paramount eventually join the fray, I think the total number at each site will sync up closer to each other. But I'm not holding my breath. With only 4 titles unavailable in iTunes, there's simply not much point in using anything but iTunes for streaming playback.

Mark
 

Todd Erwin

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My Spiderman collection is still showing only SD and not on iTunes. Should I call Sony or wait it out?
Sam, where are the films in SD only?

As for not showing up in iTunes, have you tried disconnecting and reconnecting the account where the films appear in UHD or HD? Homecoming was only showing up on Vudu (in UHD) after redeeming on Sony's site. No sign of it on MA, Google, or Amazon. I disconnected and reconnected my Vudu account, and Homecoming appeared almost immediately on Amazon (HD) and Google (4K) afterwards.
 

Tino

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Sam, where are the films in SD only?

As for not showing up in iTunes, have you tried disconnecting and reconnecting the account where the films appear in UHD or HD? Homecoming was only showing up on Vudu (in UHD) after redeeming on Sony's site. No sign of it on MA, Google, or Amazon. I disconnected and reconnected my Vudu account, and Homecoming appeared almost immediately on Amazon (HD) and Google (4K) afterwards.
How are you getting google in 4K. On the app on my OLED everything is in SD.
 

Robert Crawford

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You are usually able to redeem both iTunes and UV (one of the only studios to still allow this). I redeem in iTunes and usually in Vudu. If there is a 4k version in Vudu you get it. It appears that when I look up Paramount UHD titles in iTunes that they show as 4K.
But, do they play in 4K at iTunes? Don't be fooled by that 4K Tag you see when you first bring up the title. You have to play it and then swipe down to see if it's actually in 4K and not in HD with HDR applied.
 

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But, do they play in 4K at iTunes? Don't be fooled by that 4K Tag you see when you first bring up the title. You have to play it and then swipe down to see if it's actually in 4K and not in HD with HDR applied.

Robert, I think Apple "fixed" that situation where you could actually have a HD + Dolby Vision/HDR on a title. All my titles that did that, reverted back to regular HD, about 3 days ago.
 

Robert Crawford

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Interesting article about Movies Anywhere.

Now, the Movies Anywhere app and website just allow you to see which movies you own that are connected to the Movies Anywhere platform (not unlike how the UV site lets you see which UV-linked movies you own). So you can’t watch your content from holdouts such as Paramount and Lionsgate there. And because those studios haven’t signed up yet, their movies won’t automatically cross-populate between participating retailers Vudu, iTunes, Amazon Video and Google Play the way the rest of your collection will (with some exceptions).

Also, the biggest drawback to Movies Anywhere thus far is that it doesn’t include TV shows. All the major retailers connected to Movies Anywhere also sell TV episodes and seasons, and many TV DVDs and Blu-rays include UltraViolet codes for the content. Thus, you can’t watch TV shows on the Movies Anywhere app or website, and if you own TV content on iTunes it won’t show up in Vudu, or vice versa.

That, and the lack of Paramount and Lionsgate content, means consumers may still have to jump between retailers to see all their content.

But, if those issues can be worked out, and soon, then Movies Anywhere represents a good step toward the one-stop option for digital content studios are looking to achieve.

Linked Article.
 
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Robert Crawford

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Robert, I think Apple "fixed" that situation where you could actually have a HD + Dolby Vision/HDR on a title. All my titles that did that, reverted back to regular HD, about 3 days ago.
As I stated beforehand in this thread, I knew they dropped the HD Dolby Vision and HD HDR tags after you swiped down during playback. However, I haven't verified whether they dropped the false 4K tags when you first pull the movie up before playback. If you said they have done that then that's great.
 

turns2stone

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As I stated beforehand in this thread, I knew they dropped the HD Dolby Vision and HD HDR tags after you swiped down during playback. However, I haven't verified whether they dropped the false 4K tags when you first pull the movie up before playback. If you said they have done that then that's great.

I don't expect iTunes to drop the "initial" tag indicating 4K + DV/HDR, as I think they consider that "available". Those tags are even shown in iTunes Store iOS app, for movies you own.
 

Robert Crawford

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I don't expect iTunes to drop the "initial" tag indicating 4K + DV/HDR, as I think they consider that "available". Those tags are even shown in iTunes Store iOS app, for movies you own.
I'm not asking them to drop it!

I was simply telling Adam to verify that the 4K tag matches what the actual format is during playback and the only way we know to do that is to play the movie stream and then swipe to indicate whether playback is a 4K Dolby Vision /HDR format or just HD format with HDR applied. That is all I'm saying! Nothing about whether any tags should be removed or changed.

By the way, I just sampled a couple of titles on iTunes and The Accountant when I swipe down after playback begins still plays back in HD even though it has the 4K Dolby Vision tag when I first pull up the movie.
 
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Scott Merryfield

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The issue with being unable to migrate my Disney Movies Anywhere account to the new Movies Anywhere account was finally resolved. I finally received an email reply last night to my support request, and this morning the migration worked fine. I can now see my Disney / Pixar films in my MA library. Movies Anywhere must have fixed the issue that was causing me problems.
 

ManW_TheUncool

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I *think* so, yes. I did that with Batman v. Superman and there’s actually 2 listings for it in my UV locker

The 2 listings for that particular title may just be due to one being the theatrical version and the other extended cut. That's what I have just for redeeming my regular HD UV code.

Doublechecking a handful diff titles I own on the UV site indicates they probably just keep track of which format you own for every single title (available in UV). In my case, everyone I checked shows both SD and HD on the UV site (since I haven't gone 4K so far)... even the ones I originally redeemed via iTunes that did not have UV codes (like The Dark Knight DC from the original BD) -- seems like they just toss in SD for all HD redemptions maybe to keep it simpler for them to manage, and *might* do likewise w/ HD for UHD redemptions...

_Man_
 

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