Disney D2D / UV Pressure:

[LuzRinggold]

Re: Disney D2D / UV Pressure:

We have to keep in mind that to join Amazon Prime to stream movies a person will need to pay a nice chunk of change. I think it is $79 bucks a year up front. If it was me I would rather go with Vudu and setup a free account to watch my movie instead of paying $79 dollars. Yes, there a lot of benefits that come with the $79 dollar fee but if a person just wants to watch a movie I think they would go with the free route.

That's 6.58 per month...about the same price you pay for a monthly subscription for Hulu or Netflix. While they still don't have near the content as their competition, Amazon does seem to be getting better with their streaming options. Who knows, maybe someday soon they will make this a monthly subscription instead of an annual fee.

[tsken02]

Re: Disney D2D / UV Pressure:

I forgot about this. We are prime members because we like to get free shipping on things like buying one lightbulb for the fridge and get it from Amazon instead of going to HomeDepot or a bottle brush for the kitchen sink. Free prime shipping is great in times like that.

You are right though. Who wants to spend money to watch a digital copy which should be free? In that case, Vudu is the only streaming provider in the trifecta on the Digital Copy Plus site.

Watching movies you own does not require Prime. I've owned a few (non-UV) for several years already. Not sure how Amazon plans to support Disney, but I expect they will not give the business to Vudu.

UV support and D2D are big additions for VUDU.

[nyunole]

Re: Disney D2D / UV Pressure:

I want to echo echopulse's statement: an Amazon Prime subscription is not needed to stream copies of movies you own or rent.

I also echo those who view this as good news for Vudu, but not necessarily for UV. Disney movies have already been available on Vudu for some time. Being listed as an option for Disney buyers on par with Apple and Amazon should be grounds for a hearty night of celebrating by Vudu. Whether that helps lead people to see what else they can do on Vudu (D2D, UV), well...

I guess I fear that this news might actually be terrible for UV (but good for Vudu). Disney is giving customers who buy a physical copy the option to select a digital copy in the walled garden of their choice. Such a choice might satisfy what the majority of people want from a digital copy. I suspect that the groundswell for Disney to support additional walled gardens (Xbox Video immediately comes to mind), will be at least as large as any demand for it to join DECE and support UV.

[Grey Ghost]

Re: Disney D2D / UV Pressure:

A big part of Disney's overall movie strategy is figuring out how to sell the same movies over and over again, be it in different formats VHS, DVD, Bluray, 4K, Platinum edition, Diamond edition, etc, or to the next generation of kids and parents.

If they think the benefits of joining UV will be outweighed by a decrease in their recurring sales they will hold off.

I too find the ability to "Share" my Vudu/UV library to be a wickedly cool feature.

My Brother-in-Law lives near the beach. We recently stayed at his house for his daughter's 1st communion. I activated his Roku connected to the family room plasma to my Vudu account.

I think that this ability is something that will give them pause. I know this can be done with Apple and Amazon, but it seems to be more promoted with Ultraviolet.

[tsken02]

Re: Disney D2D / UV Pressure:

A big part of Disney's overall movie strategy is figuring out how to sell the same movies over and over again, be it in different formats VHS, DVD, Bluray, 4K, Platinum edition, Diamond edition, etc, or to the next generation of kids and parents.

If they think the benefits of joining UV will be outweighed by a decrease in their recurring sales they will hold off.


I think that this ability is something that will give them pause. I know this can be done with Apple and Amazon, but it seems to be more promoted with Ultraviolet.

That might be an issue if the only other option was to buy multiple digital copies. Remember I can still hand my DVD's (loan or gift) to my kids and/or grandkids. Until they replace the disc entirely with digital, they can't forget they are losing those sales, and that's vastly more revenue. The feature is there in the digital world to compete with discs, and enable the transition to digital.

The other nasty practice from Disney tied the WMP digital copy to your computer, not to your account. If you got a new computer, you lost your digital copy. That alone forced some folks to iTunes. Unless I can watch my movies, the digital copy has little value.

I agree selling the same movie over and over has been part of the Disney strategy. In general, I hold off on the initial purchase until the prices start to drop. For Disney that can take several years. Just check the prices on Nemo, Wall-e, Monsters, etc. Prices are still higher than many brand-new movies.

[Walter-S_North_Carolina]

Re: Disney D2D / UV Pressure:

A big part of Disney's overall movie strategy is figuring out how to sell the same movies over and over again, be it in different formats VHS, DVD, Bluray, 4K, Platinum edition, Diamond edition, etc, or to the next generation of kids and parents.

If they think the benefits of joining UV will be outweighed by a decrease in their recurring sales they will hold off.

I think that this ability is something that will give them pause. I know this can be done with Apple and Amazon, but it seems to be more promoted with Ultraviolet.

I agree. It is the lack of unilateral control Disney Studios fears in a consortium arrangement. This is why they started their own system (keychest) and also why they are reluctant to embrace DECE membership.

You are right that the value their locker titles command is higher then industry standards which is why their business decisions are out of norm. I too think it is a bit of a corporate culture mentality. I just hope they cross the tipping point sooner rather then later.

Just got back from adding nine titles via D2D (DVD->HDX upgrades) for my children to enjoy;

1) Chicken Run (2000)
2) Drumline (2002)
3) Happy Feet (2006)
4) Joseph King of Dreams (2000)
5) Millions (2004)
6) Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)
7) Secondhand Lions (2003)
8) Shrek (2001)
9) Shrek the Third (2007)

...you may notice, none are titles from the Disney Studio locker. Hopefully, they will start to see religion here sometime soon.

[shadow316]

Re: Disney D2D / UV Pressure:

What I haven't seen said here yet is, Disney seems to have realized they can't do this on their own. Remember they had their Disney Movies Online system where you could redeem/stream their movies. That was a miserable failure, mainly because unless you purchased a 3D Blu-ray combo pack, the code you got would only allow you to PURCHASE a streaming copy for $4.99. When that site failed, and they abandoned KeyChest, this was the compromise they came up with.

It's hard to be patient, but these are baby steps for Disney eventually caving to the pressure. I think someone already said the biggest winners here are VUDU/UV and Amazon. To me, this doesn't benefit the iTunes crowd at all. Walter brings up great points in saying there are more Android users and it's difficult to watch your iTunes movies on TV without an AppleTV.

I love Amazon too, but here's the catch with them. Most of the time, digital copies redeemed through Amazon are SD ONLY! The few I have redeemed through Universal have all been SD. The only one I got in HD, if I remember right, was The Hunger Games and that was a bonus for pre-ordering with Amazon. I'm not saying redeeming with VUDU is a guarantee for HDX, or that Disney will give out anything but SD no matter where you redeem, but it seems to me like VUDU is the more likely candidate to give out HDX.

No matter where this discussion goes, the bottom line is things have improved dramatically for being able to get future Disney digital copies into some sort of cloud based service. Only time will tell if they go UV, but for now, I'd say things are on the right track for the future.

[Walter-S_North_Carolina]

Re: Disney D2D / UV Pressure:

Shadow316,

it should be HDX. Both Apple's iTunes and Amazon now have HD options.

This web site calls their digital copy "HD Digital". I am checking each day for the Vudu logo to be added.

http://disney.go.com/thewizard/#/pro...dvd/hd-digital

On a house keeping item, the first news story has hit.

Jeff Kleist from Technology Tell:

http://www.technologytell.com/homete...iscs-for-plus/

it is confirmed from folks who have their hands on an early release copy that Digital Copy Plus is the new route. The author at Stitch Kingdom must be one of these select few.

-Walter

P.S.: The credit goes to you for first prognosticating an upcoming change when you found the digital copy redemption for Oz in the wrong place (it should of been in the Walmart Exclusive page http://www.vudu.com/redeemecopy.html?api=vudu, but instead it was found by you to be in the general UV redemption page http://www.vudu.com/redeemecopy.html?eccid=417433).

You were the first to recognize that something was different and forecast a change. You were right.

tbdave, then followed up with the news flash from Stitch Kingdom nine days later and the pieces of the puzzle then all fit together.

Very good work by you to recognize this so far in advance!

[shadow316]

Re: Disney D2D / UV Pressure:

Shadow316,

it should be HDX. Both Apple's iTunes and Amazon now have HD options.

This web site calls their digital copy "HD Digital". I am checking each day for the Vudu logo to be added.

http://disney.go.com/thewizard/#/pro...dvd/hd-digital

On a house keeping item, the first news story has hit.

Jeff Kleist from Technology Tell:

http://www.technologytell.com/homete...iscs-for-plus/

it is confirmed from folks who have their hands on an early release copy that Digital Copy Plus is the new route. The author at Stitch Kingdom must be one of these select few.

-Walter

P.S.: The credit goes to you for first prognosticating an upcoming change when you found the digital copy redemption for Oz in the wrong place (it should of been in the Walmart Exclusive page http://www.vudu.com/redeemecopy.html?api=vudu, but instead it was found by you to be in the general UV redemption page http://www.vudu.com/redeemecopy.html?eccid=417433).

You were the first to recognize that something was different and forecast a change. You were right.

tbdave, then followed up with the news flash from Stitch Kingdom nine days later and the pieces of the puzzle then all fit together.

Very good work by you to recognize this so far in advance!

Thanks for the kudos, Walter! I just knew that if I posted something about it, that all the great members here who love UV as much as I do would dig up the info about this. You seem to find these great articles about UV out of nowhere, so great job with the research. Let's cross our fingers that this is the start of something great and we can get our Disney catalog in our UV lockers (or on VUDU at the very least!)

[Walter-S_North_Carolina]

Re: Disney D2D / UV Pressure:

Thanks for the kudos, Walter! I just knew that if I posted something about it, that all the great members here who love UV as much as I do would dig up the info about this. You seem to find these great articles about UV out of nowhere, so great job with the research. Let's cross our fingers that this is the start of something great and we can get our Disney catalog in our UV lockers (or on VUDU at the very least!)

You deserve it. It was a stroke of brilliance to recognize something amiss.

google search e-mail alerts is my only magic. I have one cooking currently for "Disney Digital Copy Plus". I get an e-mail anytime google indexes a new matching page.

Added twelve more to my Vudu library via D2D this morning (payday, Yeah!!!).

All were DVD->HDX upgrades. None were from the Disney ranch.

1) The Chorus (2004)
2) The Crow (1994)
3) Daredevil (2003)
4) Fun with Dick and Jane (2005)
5) Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
6) The Last Samurai (2003)
7) Love Actually (2003)
8) The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
9) The Pianist (2002)
10) Pride & Prejudice (2005)
11) Red Dragon (2002)
12) Tristan + Isolde (2006)

[Walter-S_North_Carolina]

Re: Disney D2D / UV Pressure:

New Article; http://hometheater.about.com/b/2013/...-copy-plus.htm

[swiss21]

Re: Disney D2D / UV Pressure:

A big part of Disney's overall movie strategy is figuring out how to sell the same movies over and over again, be it in different formats VHS, DVD, Bluray, 4K, Platinum edition, Diamond edition, etc, or to the next generation of kids and parents.

One way they could achieve that goal is by creating new digital editions of the same movie that require a new purchase to access. Disney could easily create editions on UV, the UV Gold, UV Diamond Edition, etc.

[rdodolak]

Re: Disney D2D / UV Pressure:

One way they could achieve that goal is by creating new digital editions of the same movie that require a new purchase to access. Disney could easily create editions on UV, the UV Gold, UV Diamond Edition, etc.

Don't even give Disney any ideas.