Criterion leaving Hulu for TCM Filmstruck (1 Viewer)

[Panavision70]

Below is from Turner press release available at http://filmstruck.com/pdf/filmstruck-announcement.pdf

Turner to Launch New Streaming Movie Service: FilmStruck

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and the Criterion Collection Collaborate to Develop Turner's First Domestic Direct-To-Consumer Streaming Product, Launching in Fall 2016 FilmStruck Video Preview: filmstruck.com Global media company Turner is launching the company’s first direct-to-consumer product in the U.S. called FilmStruck. This brand new subscription video on-demand service for film aficionados, developed and managed by Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in collaboration with the Criterion Collection, will feature a comprehensive and constantly refreshed library of films comprised of an eclectic mix of contemporary and classic arthouse, indie, foreign and cult films. FilmStruck will also be the new exclusive streaming home for the critically acclaimed and award-winning Criterion Collection, which will include the Criterion Channel, a new premium service programmed and curated by the Criterion team. FilmStruck will allow viewers to watch movies anywhere and anytime on the device of their choice, in a completely ad-free environment, and is slated to launch in fall 2016.

Details at www.filmstruck.com

 

[Cranston37+]

Will also include movies from indie labels like Kino and Flicker Alley.

I am convinced that subscription services like this are they way things are headed, not purchases whether they be physical or digital.

If the cost of buying 1 Criterion movie on Blu would equal 2-3 months of this service, which would include that title you were going to buy? That's a powerful proposition for many...

 

[Bernard McNair]

These are the announcements that make me green with envy!! I can only hope that we will see services like this in Australia soon.

 

[Everett S.]

I just hope we have good internet @ our new address.

 

[dpippel]

Will also include movies from indie labels like Kino and Flicker Alley.

I am convinced that subscription services like this are they way things are headed, not purchases whether they be physical or digital.

If the cost of buying 1 Criterion movie on Blu would equal 2-3 months of this service, which would include that title you were going to buy? That's a powerful proposition for many...

And what about Criterion's excellent supplemental materials? I'll bet they'll only be streaming the films. I'm all for quality streaming services, but not at the expense of content.

 

[Cranston37+]

And what about Criterion's excellent supplemental materials? I'll bet they'll only be streaming the films. I'm all for quality streaming services, but not at the expense of content.

The announcement stresses that supplemental features will be included. Other services like iTunes and Vudu also include bonus features, sometimes ones not offered on disc.

And that 50 page thread in the Blu-Ray forum of people requesting titles? I have a feeling this service is where they will end up.

I applaud all film fans for caring about content, but it can no longer be assumed that discs are the exclusive place to find that content...

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

And what about Criterion's excellent supplemental materials? I'll bet they'll only be streaming the films. I'm all for quality streaming services, but not at the expense of content.

From the Press Release:

“Criterion is teaming up with TCM to launch an arthouse film lovers' dream streaming service,” said Peter Becker, president of the Criterion Collection. “Working with TCM's programming team, we'll present a broad, constantly changing cross-section of Criterion titles on FilmStruck, a platform designed from the start to present films with the kind of robust supplemental features that Criterion is known for."

 

[dpippel]

Sweet! That's what I get for not going to the link and reading the entire press release. It would have been good for the OP to include this info. We can be a lazy bunch.

 

[dpippel]

The announcement stresses that supplemental features will be included. Other services like iTunes and Vudu also include bonus features, sometimes ones not offered on disc.

I applaud you for caring about content, but it can no longer be assumed that the only place to find that content is discs...

Up until this announcement, I challenge you to name a single streaming service that offers identical supplemental content found on the disc release of any particular title. The bonus features that some provide are almost always a single piece of "exclusive content" designed to attract fans of a film to buy from them specifically for that exclusive content. I have yet to see the full gamut of supplemental material included with a Blu-ray/DVD release made available online via streaming, and then there are commentaries. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Cranston37+]

Up until this announcement, I challenge you to name a single streaming service that offers identical supplemental content found on the disc release of any particular title. The bonus features that some provide are almost always a single piece of "exclusive content" designed to attract fans of a film to buy from them specifically for that exclusive content. I have yet to see the full gamut of supplemental material included with a Blu-ray/DVD release made available online via streaming. Correct me if I'm wrong.

iTunes.

The last few titles I've purchased from The Force Awakens to the Bond films have all the extras of the Blu, including audio commentaries.

They even have a section where they list all the titles where bonus features have been added in the past week.

And look, I don't mean to claim that we are in a marketplace where streaming and discs are on 100% equal footing - just that we are racing towards that every day...

 

[dpippel]

iTunes. The last few titles I've purchased from The Force Awakens to the Bond films have all the extras of the Blu, including audio commentaries.

Good to know, but definitely not the norm, and I don't do iTunes. Streaming still has a long way to go in this area. I'll be interested to see how this new Criterion partnership is implemented.

 

[Robert Crawford]

iTunes.

The last few titles I've purchased from The Force Awakens to the Bond films have all the extras of the Blu, including audio commentaries.

They even have a section where they list all the titles where bonus features have been added in the past week.

Out of curiosity, why would you purchase The Force Awakens from iTunes instead of just buying the Blu-ray?

 

[Cranston37+]

Out of curiosity, why would you purchase The Force Awakens from iTunes instead of just buying the Blu-ray?

Never said I did - I redeemed the code that came with the Blu...

 

[Josh Steinberg]

iTunes.

The last few titles I've purchased from The Force Awakens to the Bond films have all the extras of the Blu, including audio commentaries.

They even have a section where they list all the titles where bonus features have been added in the past week.

And look, I don't mean to claim that we are in a marketplace where streaming and discs are on 100% equal footing - just that we are racing towards that every day...

Speaking to that a little, the iTunes version comes with an extra deleted scene that isn't on the Blu-ray -- so it's a more complete package. I logged into my iTunes movie collection on my Apple TV and I was impressed at the layout and bonus features included digitally with Force Awakens. I generally only view rentals on the AppleTV, and when I had first gotten it, iTunes Extras weren't viewable on it yet. So this was my first experience actually seeing them in action and I liked the layout and how simple it was to use. I'm still a disk guy first and foremost, but I have to say that the extras on iTunes exceeded my expectations to what I expected.

 

[Sam Posten]

Pricing this is going to be a challenge. They are not going to have the broad appeal or depth of titles that Netflix does and they want this to be a premium offering. So as expensive or more than Netflix with a fraction of the offerings and an eclectic selection that caters to film nerds. Hmmmm.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

I'll guess it'll be 10-15 bucks a month. Warner Archive, which has had several hundred films at time, was around 8 bucks. Hulu, which had hundreds of Criterion, was under 10 bucks.

 

[Sam Posten]

Right, and it's unsustainable that all of these will find their niche for the long haul IMO. Time will tell I guess but my feeling is that none of them are that special that they have the cachet to make it work.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Right, and it's unsustainable that all of these will find their niche for the long haul IMO. Time will tell I guess but my feeling is that none of them are that special that they have the cachet to make it work.

I'm interested in theory, but in practice it probably won't work out for me.

My problem with subscription services - and it's definitely "my" problem - is that while sometimes I'm a highly motivated viewer and I actually watch everything I acquire right as I get it, usually I tend to pick up things that are interesting to me at a good price, and then leave them sitting around until I'm actually in the mood to watch it. When I did the Netflix disc rental thing, I'd have a few weeks of the year where I was returning them just as quickly as I was getting them, but more discs than not would just sit around for weeks waiting to be viewed. That tends to happen to me with subscription services too. I might use it a ton in the first day or the first week, but then I tend to taper off. So at this point, it may be cheaper for me to blind buy a couple Criterion titles I'm potentially interested in, than it would be for me to subscribe to a $10 a month service for a year. Just knowing me, there will be months that go by where I don't check it at all.

I'm never going to be a subscription-type movieviewer who just selects his next movie or show based on a small, rotating list of what's available. I've always been someone who seeks out specific movies and specific times, and subscriptions services can be hit or miss on that depending on their licensing. So, for me, I'll get more value out of two or three streaming rentals from Vudu or iTunes than I would from a month of Netflix, because it's entirely possible that I won't watch anything on Netflix in a month, and the money will have just gone to waste.

 

[Cranston37+]

One thing I do is I don't subscribe to all the services all the time - I pick a different one every month. It saves me from subscribing to a bunch of them only to not use them.

Right now I'm on Netflix... on May 1st that will end and I'll do HBO... June 1st I'll probably do Showtime, etc. Sometimes if I find myself too busy (or say during baseball season if I have too many other things to watch) so I'll just not subscribe to another one until I'm ready. And it's actually very easy to do all that on Apple TV because you can manage subscriptions right on the TV.

With a service like this Filmstruck it will simply enter my rotation, so price isn't that important to me because I know I won't be paying it every single month...