b2net

I submitted a code via Sony last night (pre FM MA). It is listed as UV/MA by VUDU. It came into my UV locker but did not port to VUDU or FN.

I submitted a help desk ticket to UV which they did something so the movie does show up on FN when looking at my UV collection BUT..... There is no play option. It still shows the UV logo on it but only has a link to myUV.com.

So I searched the movie directly to see what is there. Love and behold, it shows a MA icon and offers to sell me the movie.

So basically it is in myUV library which FN shows in my movie list but it somehow is different than the version they do allow for playback which is now MA only. Ugh

All I can say is this may make many of our purchases no longer accessible via FN service.

b2net

Just purchased a movie that is listed UV and MA at VUDU and was listed as UV at FandangoNOW prior to FN connecting to MA. The movie now only has a MA icon at FN. The movie is NOT transferring to myUV locker.

This is either an error which they will fix later or it confirms FN only will support UV for non MA titles.

I wonder what will happen now if someone redeems a UV code at FN that FN only lists as MA.

DVDChris

Just bought Watchmen Ultimate Cut on FandangoNow. No more UV support as well.

Kedrix

Geezus, another case of a digital provider not thinking things through. There was no requirement that FandangoNow drop UV when they picked up MA. If that was the case VUDU would have dropped UV support when MA launched. I understand UV is going away, but you have to make an exit strategy. This is ridiculous, again this is the digital age, they are supposed to move me away from my discs and all they are doing is making me shake my head and think about stop buying digital. I'll just start building shelves in my movie room, it be a better use of time, lol.

Mikael79

All of my FandangoNow purchases (there aren't many) seem to have stayed in Vudu, so that's all that I'm worried about.

One thing that I really don't understand - why do people seem to think MA is so much better than UV? No TV titles, no D2D, no family/friends sharing (which I think Vudu killed due to MA). Seriously, what makes MA better?

stingermck

Its for people who bought movies on amazon and itunes. Be it personal preference or just chasing deals on various platforms

majorjoe23

Having most of my movies in the same place.

Mikael79

Unless you bought from MS or Amazon, as stingermck mentioned above, didn't you already have everything within Vudu? All of my Disney movies were linked to Vudu already.

IDrinkMolson

Well, idk if too many people actually think MA is better, but it's pushing UV out and it's what we're stuck with.
The best thing about MA if/when it works, is all of your movies should be available in all participating retailers, regardless of where you bought them. Of, course that only includes MA studios.
Me personally, since I only have 1 Apple TV, and 4 Roku's, now I have more access to a lot of my iTunes movies. This in my opinion is one of the biggest benefits of MA. Apple has always kept their stuff private. No iTunes apps on non-apple devices.

As far as FN dropping UV designation on MA titles, I think it makes good business sense to do so. Its my understanding the retailers have to pay UV/MA rights for a title, why should they pay UV & MA if UV is going away.

Kickboxing. Sport of the future.

Kedrix

I'm in the same boat. But I've come to the realization that unless you are an I-Tunes person, then you really don't think MA is better than UV. The only people who really are on board with MA is well...Disney. And with their money, influence and everything else they convinced everybody else that UV was a sinking ship and they provided a raft with a new course. Now the raft is a little leaky but they have a strong captain to steer the ship.

Wow, that analogy went a bit. Point is, I'm not happy with MA either at this point. I feel forced into it (kicking and screaming I might add) and I'm not a fan of what's going on so far. Name be damned, they need TV support, period. D2D/M2D, I'm kinda iffy on, I think its a great thing but I can understand why Vudu is the only one who does it. I guess the only thing I can really do is slow down my digital consumption for now until they get this hopefully ironed out.

Jay G.

MA is "better" due to Disney support, and more digital retailer support. It's not just iTunes, but Amazon and Google Play support. Previously, UV was down to two supported stores, FandangoNow and Vudu.

D2D was never a UV thing, but a Vudu thing. Vudu can support D2D for MA titles too.

And family sharing was UV, not Vudu. UV killed it. Others have pointed out that Google has a family sharing feature though, that works with MA titles synced to it.

Defiant

Is D2D directly tied to UV, and do we know it would stop if MA completely replaced UV?

I've never used sharing, and I don't have many TV titles in UV (the percentage of shows that are in UV is much, much smaller than movies), but for me the big deal is having "all" (not all, but the overwhelming percentage) in Vudu, Amazon and Play (I don't really use Itunes). That both gives me flexibility (both in watching, and in buying), and less worry that I might lose my collection if one of the retailers died.

Also, some movies having extras on the Movies Anywhere platform is a nice perk.

TheBigDave

The sharing thing doesn't bother me. I just authorized my brother's and parent's Rokus on my Movies Anywhere account, and they can use the MA app to watch movies..

Actually, D2D was also available through Flixtser and CinemaNow.

Jay G.

There's limits to that though:
https://help.moviesanywhere.com/hc/e...o-at-one-time-
Both of those services were already dead when I started investing in digital copies. However, it's still true that those were retailer-specific services, not something that was part of UV.

majorjoe23

I had some movies in Amazon, some in iTunes, some in Google Play and some in Vudu. Now I can find them all in one place (and in whichever app I prefer to use).

b2net

What I mentioned earlier is a title redeemed at Sony that came to FandangoNOW via UV yet FN has no way for me watch it. They show it in their listing of my UV titles. If searching the title directly, they offer me the opportunity to buy it to watch it on their service.

b2net

Just redeemed 2 UV/MA codes at VUDU. Both came into FandangoNOW correctly. I don't have FN linked to MA yet. So maybe the other title I mentioned is the issue itself.

The reverse though is concerning as I bought the formally shown as UV at FN that now shows MA ar FN and it did not port to UV. For that I suspect FN is allowing UV/MA incoming from UV but only providing MA the outgoing.

b2net

Just redeemed 2 UV/MA codes at VUDU. Both came into FandangoNOW correctly. I don't have FN linked to MA yet. So maybe the other title I mentioned is the issue itself.

The reverse though is concerning as I bought a title that was formally shown as UV at FN that now shows MA at FN and it did not port to UV. I suspect FN is allowing UV incoming from UV but only providing MA outgoing for titles marked MA only at FN.

This differs from VUDU which has MA, UV, and UV/MA titles. If redeemed or purchased at VUDU it goes all places. Although VUDU will port from incoming UV to MA but not incoming MA to UV.

TheBigDave

Some info from Paul Thurrott:

And here's a quote from a recent article at Media Play News:

Jay G.

It's not tied to UV. I just went back and looked at a few Vudu D2D titles I've done in the past few months (My Cousin Vinny, Citizen Kane, Adaptation), and they're in my MA locker now. The Brother's Grimm didn't get added to MA, but that's not an MA title, only UV.

So D2D is a feature due to a partnership between the studios and the retailers (now just Vudu), and the D2D conversions get activated on MA and/or UV depending on the title.

b2net

I have never found a D2D/M2D title that is MA exclusively.

For sure there are titles that are UV and MA.

Does anyone have an example of a MA exclusive title (no UV) that is available D2D/M2D?

Jay G.

You'd have to find a studio that wasn't part of UV, but was D2D and is now MA. That simply doesn't exist.

It still remains to be seen whether studios will continue to support D2D after going exclusively MA, but the fact that D2D titles are transferring over to MA shows there's nothing inherent in D2D that prevents it from being used with MA.

b2net

And if UV wasn't required, why does the app on Android require the account be linked to UV?

TheBigDave

I'm pretty sure D2D is tied to UV. If you look at the old D2D graphics, they said that all converted movies were UV.

And this is in the Vudu D2D FAQ:

Jay G.

I don't think that's done for any technological reason, but because the studios wanted these D2Ds to be "universal" and not tied to the store the conversion was done through. The stores were merely facilitating the conversion. If UV goes away, the studios could merely switch the requirement to having a connected MA account.