Disappointed with Content?

[dvcii]

I received my Vudu on Tuesday, and so far I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed with the content choices and rent vs. buy options. I've tried to show it off to some friends, and when they name a movie, sure enough it's not available-- old movies, new movies, you name it. They've been pretty unimpressed to say the least.

Last night, my wife and I searched and found a movie, only to see that it was purchase only. The movie was over 10 years old. Not good.

Question for those of you who have been using Vudu for a while-- how rapidly is content being added, and what is the liklihood that rent options will be added to films that are currently purchase only?

I love the Vudu concept and picture quality is on par with DVD, but content is everything. If things don't get better in the next 2.5 weeks, my box is going back for sure. I know many of you will tell me to have patience, but I didn't pay $400 to sit around and wait.

[redwein]

Re: Disappointed with Content?

This has been discussed quite a few times here and everyone clearly wants the same thing. However, there seems to be 2 completely different perspectives on the current offering. The "patient optimists" see it as a good start and are happy, for the time being, browsing through the current selection and "finding" movies they feel like seeing. New movies are getting added on a very regular basis though I don't keep count of how many. This would be much like going into Blockbuster without having first picked out a movie. The second group, which you seem to belong to, almost always picks the movie first, and then goes to find it.

I don't think there is anything wrong with either perspective. It does seem that the first group will just naturally be more satisfied with what there currently is while the product matures into what it really intends to be. If you really can't be patient, you can return the box and then, be patient in a different way and buy the box when it gets to where you want it to be. Of course, if you really value VOD, you can stick with it and enjoy a product that gets better and better. If you do, you will actually help it get there.

[NA9D]

Re: Disappointed with Content?

The content library is good and growing. The long term plan is to have it equivalent to something like Netflix or Blockbuster.

As to the buy vs. rent thing - it's not Vudu's decision but the studios. Will that business model doom Vudu? I hope not, but it doesn't help. I know this is something Vudu is working to address.

I think the proper thing to do at this point is not compare Vudu to Blockbuster or Netflix but to other Video on Demand services. No other VOD service has the quality, the selection or the usability of Vudu. The fact that you have about 5000 movies at your fingertips is a big deal. Are they all what you want in a library? Maybe not.

Maybe the $400 investment isn't worth it for you at this point. If so, then that's fine. Take advantage of the return policy. Wait 6 months. Who knows the price may be less and then maybe the selection will be larger.

But in 6 months, maybe you won't be the first one on your block to own a Vudu either!

[MaxH]

Re: Disappointed with Content?

Don't forget, VUDU could have everything available to rent...by dropping titles for which they haven't been able to get a rental license. I'd prefer that they at least get those movies showing in the catalog, even though I'll probably never purchase them. Why? Because

3) Someone else might want to buy it, so why not put it in there?
2) I might buy it, even if I usually prefer to rent.
1) If the studios see how much better rentals are doing compared to purchases, they might loosen up a bit. Without the purchases in there, the point can't really be made that we prefer rentals.

So VUDU could improve its public image by holding back some titles that are purchase only, but my impression is that they are committed to getting whatever they can, however they can, whenever they can, into the catalog, to try to give customers more choices.

[NA9D]

Re: Disappointed with Content?

It's possible as well that there are contractual issues as well. Some studio or producer might insist that the movie be purchase only for a period of time before rental is an option. I'm speculating as I don't know contract details but I could see this happening.

Keep in mind that we are treading in uncharted waters here. Part of what the writer's strike has been about is based on exactly the type of product revolution Vudu represents. I think the writers see the day that a new series or show may premiere on a service like Vudu as opposed to broadcast and they want to be sure they are getting the proper compensation. So a lot of this is in a huge amount of flux as this industry goes through growing pains.

[dvcii]

Re: Disappointed with Content?

Content availability is directly linked to Vudu's business model-- the box won't hit mainstream at $400 without great content, and the content won't get better until Vudu has a user base large enough to make the studio's pay attention. The choice is Vudu or Blu-Ray-- essentially the same cost of entry ($400 for a basic player) and use ($5/rental). Vudu wins out on convenience, but Blu Ray is hands down better on content and quality (HD / 5.1). I'm betting that the early adapters Vudu is hoping to sign on won't accept the sub-optimal content and quality, and that boxes are coming back at an unacceptable rate. So... unless there's a significant improvement in content in the very short term, they need to drop the price to gain users. If neither happen, these boxes will be bricks in 6 months.

[NA9D]

Re: Disappointed with Content?

Many early adopters are very happy with the content. We did a poll a couple months ago and the vast majority of people were satisfied with the content. Many of the people who weren't satisfied were Vudu employees and moderators. So early adopter customers expect this to take time to evolve.

Also, the boxes don't become bricks. Purchased content is always available even if Vudu were to cease to exist.

[NA9D]

Re: Disappointed with Content?

Also, since the Vudu has been released there have been 3 HD titles made available. More are coming as contracts with studios have been signed. TV shows are available with more to come.

This thing is just getting started. The question is if you believe Video On Demand is the content delivery system of the future as opposed to broadcast and physical media. If you believe that, then Vudu is for you. If not, the keep watching NTSC TV and listening to 8-tracks.

[dvcii]

Re: Disappointed with Content?

Don't get me wrong-- I love this concept and want it to succeed, but to do so Vudu needs to overcome some major barriers really quickly, and the VC community financing this venture doesn't have a lot of patience. There is a lot of competition out there from cable VOD (have you seen Comcast lately-- pretty impressive), and rentals. The best thing we can do for Vudu is to push them for more, better as quickly as possible. Time is short, and if the studios aren't taking this seriously (evident in content availability and flexibility of rental) there's no winning.

[Nded]

Re: Disappointed with Content?

You may not be old enough to remember what it was like when CD players first came on the market. You'd go into the record store and there were like 100 albums available on CD and 25000 albums on vinyl or cassette. I bought that CD player anyway, because I knew it represted the future I wanted to be part of.

[redwein]

Re: Disappointed with Content?

There is a lot of competition out there from cable VOD (have you seen Comcast lately-- pretty impressive)

I have both Vudu and Comcast OnDemand. Since we bought Vudu, we have rented over 30 movies from Vudu and 0 from Comcast. I am far from impressed with Comcast OnDemand. The selection is horrible. It has very few movies compared to Vudu. For the time being, I'm happy to wait until the new movies get to Vudu because it is so much better of an experience and there are tons of movies that I enjoy watching from their current selection of over 5,000 movies. I also do expect that Vudu will close any gap that currently exists over time.

[NA9D]

Re: Disappointed with Content?

Don't get me wrong-- I love this concept and want it to succeed, but to do so Vudu needs to overcome some major barriers really quickly, and the VC community financing this venture doesn't have a lot of patience.

How do you know the feelings of Vudu's VC sources? Any VC worth their salt is going to give a company with a good business model 3 to 5 years to start turning a profit. This is especially true in a nascent industry. But my speculation or your speculation aside, we have no idea how happy or unhappy Vudu' VC sources are at this time.

Also, what other major barriers does Vudu need to overcome? Lack of HD content - that's coming quickly. I can't promise anything but it's likely a matter of weeks.

There is a lot of competition out there from cable VOD (have you seen Comcast lately-- pretty impressive), and rentals.

Yeah, I have Comcast. And if you look beyond the stuff like Gallery Player on Demand and Searchlight, there's not a lot there that Vudu doesn't have. Vudu destroys Comcast in terms of UI, speed of the UI, movie selection and ability to hang onto a movie w/o watching it (try to rent a movie on Comcast and wait 30 days before viewing - you can't.). Sorry, cable VOD holds NOTHING on Vudu. Oh yeah, the new content on Vudu and cable is pretty much identical. I've checked...

The biggest and only real advantage cable VOD has is that the user doesn't have to buy the box.

The best thing we can do for Vudu is to push them for more, better as quickly as possible. Time is short, and if the studios aren't taking this seriously (evident in content availability and flexibility of rental) there's no winning.

I think the studios are listening. The independent studios have already increased rental viewing periods to 48 hours. I imagine the bigger studios will follow suit soon. You are right - the studios have to play ball. But compare what Vudu has to all the other true competition. iTunes has what 5 studios and 500 titles. Netflix and Amazon Unbox downloads don't work as well and I think have about the same amount of content as Vudu. Vudu has a lot going for it...

[Rusdude]

Re: Disappointed with Content?

I am in the wait & see camp. I'm willing to give Vudu some time to work out more favorable terms with content providers, but I hope it doesn't take very long. I could even live with a short delay (2-4 weeks) between purchase and rental options.

FWIW, I just don't find owning movies on Vudu a cost-effective solution. With all the deals and specials going on all the time for DVDs and BRD/HD-DVDs, it's cheaper to buy them elsewhere and ownership of physical media is less restrictive too.

P.S. Having said that, I did purchase Bourne Ultimatum to support push for HD content

[redwein]

Re: Disappointed with Content?

FWIW, I just don't find owning movies on Vudu a cost-effective solution. With all the deals and specials going on all the time for DVDs and BRD/HD-DVDs, it's cheaper to buy them elsewhere and ownership of physical media is less restrictive too.

Owning physical media doesn't scale as a solution. My current DVD collection is about 700 movies. I had lost the ability to find or use them in any easy way. I eventually spent many thousands of dollars on network storage devices, etc. and spent hundreds of hours ripping them onto those devices.

Now what I really like about Vudu is that having instant viewing VOD for their entire movie collection, which is much larger than my own collection, makes renting a much more appealing option than ownership at all. For the number of times I have and will watch all of the movies that I currently own, the cost I spent for the disks and hardware will be way more than if I could have just rented the movies whenever I wanted to watch them. Also, the library browsing comes for free. I no longer need to do anything to "add" a new movie to the library so it will save time as well. And you know, time is money.

[Rusdude]

Re: Disappointed with Content?

Owning physical media doesn't scale as a solution. My current DVD collection is about 700 movies. I had lost the ability to find or use them in any easy way. I eventually spent many thousands of dollars on network storage devices, etc. and spent hundreds of hours ripping them onto those devices.

I am firmly in the rental camp at this time (for Vudu and physical media) and agree on the conveniences that you mention. Your example is something I've been pondering. There are a lot of people ripping their DVDs and high-def media onto hard drives, but there are issues with reliability of hard drives and the fact that high-def video takes up quite a bit of space.

That's why I wouldn't mind if Vudu didn't store any content on the boxes, not even the movies I purchased. As long as there's a record on the "cloud" (i.e. Vudu servers) that I own the movie and I am able to stream it whenever I want, it's fine by me. However, offline storage is needed for some people and I hear there are studio restrictions on re-downloading, so I will be quiet