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Apple Play Store taking on the Movie Studios on UHD movie pricing

Flint

Flint

Prodigal Son
Superstar
Well, as we watch the weather reports from Hell about the need for scarves and hats, I am excited to see Apple taking on the studios to keep the pricing of UHD movies on their play store in the $20 range rather than a much higher price the studios want to charge.

I am of a mind that paying $20 for a downloaded/streamed version of a UHD movie is WAY FRIGGIN' TOO MUCH to start with - they should cost between $10 and $15 in my mind. But what do I know about what a movie should cost anyway?

Studios reportedly resisting Apple's 4K movie pricing plan
http://a.msn.com/01/en-us/AAqWoNI?ocid=st
 
You can usually get 4K UltraViolet licenses for around $10-15 on the sites Matt and I use.
 
Apple won! 4k movies on the Apple Store will cost between $15 and $20.

This is very good.
 
^^ even better news is any HD movies already purchased will be upgraded to 4K at no additional charge.
 
Batman said:
^^ even better news is any HD movies already purchased will be upgraded to 4K at no additional charge.
Click to expand...

This. I'm actually pretty thrilled about it. It's a reason why I'm planning to get a 4K ATV when they come out.
 
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/13/disney-not-backing-4k-films-20/

Well, it appears Disney is having none of this. All we know currently is that Disney wasn't included in the list of studios who's movies will be available in 4K for $15 to $20. It could be that Disney is holding out on price, or it could be they are withholding access to future movies to promote their own streaming service and store - I dunno.

Disney is showing their true colors this year.
 
Odd given Disney's Apple connection. WTF Disney??
 
Last edited:
Batman said:
Odd given Disney's Apple connection. WTF Disney??
Click to expand...

Disney always does their own thing. They started Disney Movies Anywhere instead of joining UltraViolet, for instance. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was their first 4K disc/DMA release. Give them time.
 
I think they'll ultimately come around, and for me most of what I'd want to watch from them I'm sure to buy the disc anyway but.....I'm continually baffled at the PR and goodwill these companies seem to undervalue for potential short-term gains.
 
On the one hand, I credit Disney for taking great stride, even to the point of putting off significant sales, to ensure the quality of their distributed content be as perfect as the format can allow. They have high quality standards for all their licensees which sometimes makes it hard to get new content in the same timeframe other studios are rushing out the latest to cash in on any money stream they can get. I respect that.

However, I don't think that is what this is about. The Internet is fast and the LTE Advanced wireless networks are often even faster. They with most devices and streaming firms able to easily support HVEC H.265 encoding, and the content distribution systems in the network natively encoding for devices with that codec, I imagine all of Disney's quality concerns can be addressed pretty well.

So, that leaves pure profit motive, even potentially the old model of a release being special on a given format. Remember the HUGE sales they got every time they released a Disney classic "remastered" for the newest format - often years after that format had been commoditized? Maybe that's the goal here, get more from limited supply.

Who knows. It could also be as simple as just believing the consumer is more than ready to pay more for UHD, which if the market will support it they have every right to go that route.
 
Well maybe they'll release a press announcement as to their reasoning. On the surface it doesn't look good for several reasons.
 
Batman said:
Well maybe they'll release a press announcement as to their reasoning. On the surface it doesn't look good for several reasons.
Click to expand...

You'd have to assume they knew Apple was making this announcement yesterday and at least prepared some sort of statement, even if it was incomplete. Instead all the stories claim Disney didn't respond or stated "no comment."
 
The Disney ones are the movies I was happiest about.

Damn it all.

It remains to be seen how Disney's online streaming service will develop; we're a few years away from it at the moment. And even if they want to protect their own 4K offerings, the iTunes streams are also those who outright purchased the film (either standalone or as part of a disc/digital combo). I would be willing to pay a couple bucks per film to "update" the resolution, but I'm not buying them again at full freight.
 
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