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

[Cranston37+]

That is an example of what I said of people assuming everything will be available. Disney never claimed they are making their whole catalog available at all times just that they will have access to all of it most likely for monthly rotations like Netflix, amazon, hulu.

That should not have been seen as an example of people assuming everything will be available at all times because that is not what I said and that is not what I believe.

As a matter of fact it was just 4 posts back that I said "I have never been led to believe that was ever some kind of ultimate goal."

To make sure we are crystal clear here, Randy - I do not believe that anyone, including Disney, are making their whole catalog available at all times.

They already confirmed they are launching with 500 movies which is a small fraction of all the total movies Disney owns between their own name, Pixar, marvel, star wars, touchstone, Hollywood pictures, etc. They will add and subtract titles monthly which is the norm for streaming services.

If you look at a full list of movies Disney and it's subsidiaries have produced that number is 744.

Assuming R-rated and other non-family fare from Touchstone and Hollywood are not included on this service, it does get you to the 500+ titles they promised at launch.

Also, you say that adding and subtracting titles is the norm for streaming services - that is the norm for streaming services that have to license its content. Services run by studios that own all of the content it shows is a new ballgame with new rules. Rotating titles in and out isn't necessary for them.

To repeat, I am not trying to say Disney+ is intending on having it's entire catalog available at all times, only that if they want to take their business model in a different direction in the future, they are setting themselves up to be able to do so.

 

[dpippel]

Outside of quality issues this, to me, is the biggest pitfall of streaming. Every single studio/content provider out there is going to have their own, exclusive streaming service. If you want access to everything that interests you, pretty soon you're going to be nickel-and-dimed to death subscribing to them all. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see monthly expenditures of $100-$150 or more for the film enthusiast, depending on how this all shakes out in the end. So much for cord-cutting. If I'm right, once again the entertainment industry will be needlessly overcomplicating things, and the consumer will lose.

 

[Cranston37+]

If you want access to everything that interests you, pretty soon you're going to be nickel-and-dimed to death subscribing to them all. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see monthly expenditures of $100-$150 or more for the film enthusiast

Only if you're a film enthusiast who's not all that bright.

Nobody says that once you subscribe to something you have to stay subscribed. Subscribe to 1 a month and rotate.

Think of the days of Blockbuster - for $10 you would rent a few titles for 3 days. Now for about that price you can rent an entire studio for 30 days.

As a consumer, I feel I am getting a much better deal than I used to.

 

[dpippel]

Only if you're a film enthusiast who not all that bright.

Nobody says that once you subscribe you have to stay subscribed. Subscribe to 1 a month and rotate.

Of course that's a possibility. But who wants to manage a dozen or more different streaming services like that? As I said, once again the consumer loses.

 

[Cranston37+]

Of course that's a possibility. But who wants to manage a dozen or more different streaming services like that? As I said, once again the consumer loses.

I don't think it takes any time to manage at all.

Look at the Apple TV - there's a page called "manage subscriptions." You click "subscribe" next to the services you want and "unsubscribe" next to the ones you don't. That's what I do and I probably spent about 1-2 minutes the entirety of last month doing it.

I also continue to disagree that consumers losing in this new world of movie distribution.

Yesterday you would rent Captain Marvel for $5.99 and now tomorrow you will be able to subscribe to unlimited Disney movies including Captain Marvel for $6.99. I would argue things are looking up for the consumer compared to today.

 

[Randy Korstick]

If you look at a full list of movies Disney and it's subsidiaries have produced that number is 744.

Assuming R-rated and other non-family fare from Touchstone and Hollywood are not included on this service, it does get you to the 500+ titles they promised at launch which, at least in the case of Disney, disproves your point.

Also, you say that adding and subtracting titles is the norm for streaming services - that is the norm for streaming services that have to license its content. Services run by studios that own all of the content it shows is a new ballgame with new rules. Rotating titles in and out isn't necessary for them.

This is my argument - a company like WarnerMedia is making its money off Aquaman and Game of Thrones. They aren't making crap off The Philadelphia Story. The best way they can utilize an asset like The Philadelphia Story is to bundle it with everything else to make their service as tantalizing as possible to get more subscribers to sign up and to be able to charge more for subscriptions.

Do I think all movies will be available like this tomorrow? No. But do I think this is where it's all headed? Absolutely.

There are 540 movies up to Toy Story 4 with the Disney name alone. That doesn't include Star Wars, Marvel, Made for Disney channel movies, Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures and the Huge 20th Century Fox movie and TV Library that Disney now owns. So 500 is at best 20-25%. Between all the old Disney TV shows, Disney Channel shows, ABC TV shows and Fox TV shows 1700 tv episodes is a drop in the bucket too. I don't think licensing is the main reason for rotating. Its all about studios wanting to maintain control of their assets. If films are available for streaming at all times the studios have lost a major revenue source as no one will pay to buy them, rent them or expensive cable channels if you can always stream them for a low monthly cost. Disney going back to VHS days has been one of the best studios at making money off their back catalog setting 7 years unavailable periods on animated classics and so forth. There's no way I can see them giving up all future revenue sources for one small (to Disney) revenue from streaming.

 

[dpippel]

I don't think it takes any time to manage at all.

Look at the Apple TV - there's a page called "manage subscriptions." You click "subscribe" next to the services you want and "unsubscribe" next to the ones you don't. That's what I do and I probably spent about 1-2 minutes the entirety of last month doing it.

I also continue to disagree that consumers losing in this new world of movie distribution as much as is alleged.

Yesterday you would rent Captain Marvel for $5.99 and now tomorrow you will be able to subscribe to unlimited Disney movies including Captain Marvel for $6.99. I would argue things are looking up for the consumer compared to today.

Good for you. We'll just have to agree to disagree.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Also, you say that adding and subtracting titles is the norm for streaming services - that is the norm for streaming services that have to license its content. Services run by studios that own all of the content it shows is a new ballgame with new rules. Rotating titles in and out isn't necessary for them.

I see Sony titles come and go and come back again all the time on Sony's Crackle service.

 

[Cranston37+]

There are 540 movies up to Toy Story 4 with the Disney name alone. That doesn't include Star Wars, Marvel, Made for Disney channel movies, Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures and the Huge 20th Century Fox movie and TV Library that Disney now owns. So 500 is at best 20-25%.

Randy it seems you keep wanting to argue the point about Disney only putting a fraction of its catalog out even though I can't find anyone disagreeing with you...

I see Sony titles come and go and come back again all the time on Sony's Crackle service.

I said that rotating titles in and out isn't necessary for a service that owns all its content. Of course they do it and will probably continue to do it.

Again guys, to repeat what I've said a number of times now, I do not think streaming companies are going to make their entire catalogs available at all times. I have never been led to believe that by anyone. I'm only saying that if they choose to take their business model in a different direction in the future, they are putting themselves in a position to be able to do so.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Randy it seems you keep wanting to argue the point about Disney only putting a fraction of its catalog out even though I can't find anyone disagreeing with you...



I said that rotating titles in and out isn't necessary for a service that owns all its content. Of course they do it and will probably continue to do it.

Again guys, to repeat what I've said a number of times now, I do not think streaming companies are going to make their entire catalogs available at all times. I have never been led to believe that by anyone. I'm only saying that if they choose to take their business model in a different direction in the future, they are putting themselves in a position to be able to do so.

I agree on all of your points. As to Randy, TBH, I don't know what he's arguing about or with whom?

 

[Tino]

Waterworld now upgraded to 4K/HDR on iTunes. Time to redeem that code.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Waterworld now upgraded to 4K/HDR on iTunes. Time to redeem that code.

Why would you wait to redeem that code anyway?

 

[Tino]

Why would you wait to redeem that code anyway?

Because I wasn't sure if I purchased it thru iTunes. Apparently I didn’t. Would have given the code away if it upgraded for free.

 

[Cranston37+]

The iOS/tvOS MoviesAnywhere app was updated today to let you see what sound format you are playing.

Hurrah.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

About time!

 

[Robert Crawford]

The iOS/tvOS MoviesAnywhere app was updated today to let you see what sound format you are playing.

Hurrah.

Let me go try it out now.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The iOS/tvOS MoviesAnywhere app was updated today to let you see what sound format you are playing.

Hurrah.

I have never attempted to watch a film using the Movies Anywhere app -- in fact, it's not even installed on my Apple TV 4K box. Is there any advantage to using it instead of either Apple's native movies app or Vudu for playback?

 

[Cranston37+]

I have never attempted to watch a film using the Movies Anywhere app -- in fact, it's not even installed on my Apple TV 4K box. Is there any advantage to using it instead of either Apple's native movies app or Vudu for playback?

Not really. Sometimes a movie might have an issue (wrong aspect ratio, sound problem, etc) so I like to have all available MA apps on my ATV to have other sources to choose from if I need it.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

What he said.

Most of my streamed movies are watched with iTunes, but there are one or two where MA has the better copy.

David Mamet’s thriller “Spartan” is one of those titles. iTunes has it at its proper aspect ratio of 2.40:1 but only with 2.0 sound. Vudu has it with 5.1 audio but cropped to 1.78:1. Movies Anywhere has it 2.40:1 with 5.1 audio.

MA has a new 1.66:1 master of Darby O’Gill and the Little People. iTunes and Vudu have an older 1.33:1 open matte master.

 

[Sam Posten]

It's happening! Still no iTunes support tho.