Fandango purchases Vudu! (1 Viewer)

[Neil S. Bulk]

FandangoNow shows 5.1 on my Yamaha but only plays in stereo and some movies play at 24p. So far every film I've picked has indicated 5.1 and I've tried two HD Bond movies (Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker) which play in 24p. None of the other titles I tried changed the frame rate, but they do support it.

EDIT: I take that back. Moonraker indicated 5.1 but only played from my left and right speakers. Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation is playing now in 5.1, but not 24p.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm going to be addressing some of those in an article likely next week.

As I stated beforehand, I hate that they list these 4K non-HDR titles as 4K UHD which is technically correct as far as the term definition, but can be misconstrued for those that don't quite understand the 4K terminology.

 

[Robert Crawford]

FandangoNow shows 5.1 on my Yamaha but only plays in stereo and some movies play at 24p. So far every film I've picked has indicated 5.1 and I've tried two HD Bond movies (Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker) which play in 24p. None of the other titles I tried changed the frame rate, but they do support it.

EDIT: I take that back. Moonraker indicated 5.1 but only played from my left and right speakers. Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation is playing now in 5.1, but not 24p.

As of now, I will never use FandangoNow to stream any movie. My first preference is ATV+ followed by Vudu.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

As of now, I will never use FandangoNow to stream any movie. My first preference is ATV+ followed by Vudu.

Same here. I'll use Disney+ or Amazon Prime as other options, only if the film is available at no additional cost at those subscription sites (or if I'm using digital credits at Amazon to rent a film "for free"). Otherwise, my film streaming is almost always via Apple, with Vudu as my 2nd choice.

I've never used the Fandando app on any of my streaming or portable devices.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Same here. I'll use Disney+ or Amazon Prime as other options, only if the film is available at no additional cost at those subscription sites (or if I'm using digital credits at Amazon to rent a film "for free"). Otherwise, my film streaming is almost always via Apple, with Vudu as my 2nd choice.

I've never used the Fandando app on any of my streaming or portable devices.

To me, Disney+ is in a different category than ATV+, Vudu, Amazon Prime and FandangoNow.

 

[Tino]

I call it Fandango Never!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

To me, Disney+ is in a different category than ATV+, Vudu, Amazon Prime and FandangoNow.

True, and even Amazon is a hybrid of both ownership and subscription-based models. I was just listing where I prefer to watch films, as in the end that's what it all boils down to -- watching films via streaming.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

The bulk of my non MA titles are in Vudu. Lately the app on my LG TVs keeps dropping, claiming insufficient bandwidth (wired and wireless). It's to the point where my wife doesn't want to watch any titles on Vudu. Do you think if I got an AppleTV and used the vudu app on it I would have better results? I don't have issues with any other streaming services. We use Firesticks for our default device and they don't support Vudu.

 

[Cranston37+]

The bulk of my non MA titles are in Vudu. Lately the app on my LG TVs keeps dropping, claiming insufficient bandwidth (wired and wireless). It's to the point where my wife doesn't want to watch any titles on Vudu. Do you think if I got an AppleTV and used the vudu app on it I would have better results? I don't have issues with any other streaming services. We use Firesticks for our default device and they don't support Vudu.

I don't think those TV apps get a lot of love from developers, making the apps made for streaming devices much more solid. I have never had a problem with the Vudu tvOS app and love the ATV generally.

That being said, there is rumor of an ATV refresh coming, so waiting to see what Apple has up their sleeves at their October event might be wise...

 

[Robert Crawford]

The bulk of my non MA titles are in Vudu. Lately the app on my LG TVs keeps dropping, claiming insufficient bandwidth (wired and wireless). It's to the point where my wife doesn't want to watch any titles on Vudu. Do you think if I got an AppleTV and used the vudu app on it I would have better results? I don't have issues with any other streaming services. We use Firesticks for our default device and they don't support Vudu.

Adam,

To answer your question, yes, I use the Vudu app all of the time on my ATV. However, as Patrick stated, I would wait until October to see if there is a product refresh coming.

 

[Todd Erwin]

If you are desperate, there is always Roku, with whom I currently have a love/hate relationship with due to their recent change in business model.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

If you are desperate, there is always Roku, with whom I currently have a love/hate relationship with due to their recent change in business model.

What recent change do you mean?

_Man_

 

[Ejanss]

The bulk of my non MA titles are in Vudu. Lately the app on my LG TVs keeps dropping, claiming insufficient bandwidth (wired and wireless). It's to the point where my wife doesn't want to watch any titles on Vudu.

I used to stream Vudu new-movie rentals on my PS3 console because their app let you download files for watching offline, but the PS4 put an end to that.
Still, Vudu does seem to be a good step in video quality over Amazon Prime on my console, and there's a reason they were the Last Ultraviolet Merchant Standing, when they made their lonely defection to MA. Can't speak for AppleTV, though.

And Fandango seems to want to buy up all the scraps, too: Originally, they bought out Warner's share in Flixster (and Warner dreamed of being the one to bring Digital Purchase to us personally), and for a while, Vudu hung on because Wal-Mart kept trying to sell their "Disk 2 Digital" in-store service and home-app.
That was what Best Buy thought too with CinemaNow, but, again, there's a reason they didn't last as long as Vudu.

 

[Todd Erwin]

What recent change do you mean?

_Man_

Roku is no longer the open platform it once was. Last January, Roku pulled Fox Sports apps from their platform over a carriage dispute. Same thing occurred at around the same time with DirecTV Now and AT&T Now apps. Roku is currently in a dispute over ad revenues and viewer data with both HBO Max and Peacock TV. And don't get me started on the lack of Dolby Atmos (still) on Netflix.

 

[Todd Erwin]

That was what Best Buy thought too with CinemaNow, but, again, there's a reason they didn't last as long as Vudu.

CinemaNow was perhaps best managed when they were owned by Best Buy. Things started to slide when BB sold them off to Rovi, and then went to hell when Rovi sold them off just a few years later to a company that then shuttered the service without warning, causing many to lose any movies they acquired that were not UV.

 

[Todd Erwin]

And it's hard to believe, but CinemaNow was actually started by Lionsgate!

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Roku is no longer the open platform it once was. Last January, Roku pulled Fox Sports apps from their platform over a carriage dispute. Same thing occurred at around the same time with DirecTV Now and AT&T Now apps. Roku is currently in a dispute over ad revenues and viewer data with both HBO Max and Peacock TV. And don't get me started on the lack of Dolby Atmos (still) on Netflix.

Not sure that's actually a "change in business model" (or any other change) on Roku's side though. I hadn't paid attention to the other cases, but seems like it's actually AT&T/Warner and probably NBCUniversal who are balking at Roku's established model (rather than any model change) instead of the other way around. Certainly, I don't see how Roku should get more blame, if any, for those specific disputes than AT&T/Warner and NBCUniversal...

_Man_

 

[Cranston37+]

Before Roku made their money by selling Roku units, now they're trying to get a piece of the action and are using their clout to try and get it.

From Variety:

"A central sticking point: WarnerMedia wants to remove HBO from Amazon’s Prime Video Channels and the Roku Channel. That’s so the media conglomerate can keep customers within the HBO Max app experience, giving it the ability to gather data for recommendations and (down the road) ad targeting.

Apple, which offers the HBO Max app, agreed to stop selling HBO through Apple TV Channels. But Amazon and Roku are resisting.

“They want to aggregate all this content into a central experience,” says an industry exec familiar with the talks. “But Netflix is never going to do that. Hulu is never going to do that. HBO did that early on, and now Amazon and Roku have a real problem because if HBO is not in their channels that model falls apart.”

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Before Roku made their money by selling Roku units, now they're trying to get a piece of the action and are using their clout to try and get it.

From Variety:

"A central sticking point: WarnerMedia wants to remove HBO from Amazon’s Prime Video Channels and the Roku Channel. That’s so the media conglomerate can keep customers within the HBO Max app experience, giving it the ability to gather data for recommendations and (down the road) ad targeting.

Apple, which offers the HBO Max app, agreed to stop selling HBO through Apple TV Channels. But Amazon and Roku are resisting.

“They want to aggregate all this content into a central experience,” says an industry exec familiar with the talks. “But Netflix is never going to do that. Hulu is never going to do that. HBO did that early on, and now Amazon and Roku have a real problem because if HBO is not in their channels that model falls apart.”

That sounds like AT&T/Warner insisting on a change (to do what they want that was not viable before), not Roku.

Ultimately, they both have to work it out between them if they want HBO Max on Roku.

_Man_

 

[Cranston37+]

That sounds like AT&T/Warner insisting on a change (to do what they want that was not viable before), not Roku.

So you think Roku changing from a business model or selling hardware and advertising to one of wanting an actual cut of subscription fees was done at AT&T/Warner's insistence?