Target Ticket closing?

[Zu Nim]

Bye Bye Target Ticket

Redwire had me take down the signs today.

I also read the following on G+:

"March 7 is the last day. Target ticket subscribers will be notified via e-mail in February 10."

"Libraries will be able to be transferred to other digital home media apps. The directions will be in the email on February 10."

Looks like Best Buy and Target are both out of the UV game. Step up, Amazon!

I should add that Target's new CEO just announced the closure of all their Canada stores. I think the new CEO is cleaning out operations from the prior CEO as cost-saving measures. Closing Target Ticket sounds like it would fit in that category.

[squatting hen]

While I have never watched one of my movies on Target Ticket, I am not thrilled about having an "option" taken away. I have redeemed one or two titles there, but my library would only load 70 or so titles so I skipped using the service.

[sodapop]

Too bad because I preferred the UI of Target Ticket much more than the clumsy UI of VUDU but it doesn't surprise me at all since I doubted that these UV retailers were actually making any money of it.

I suppose it kinda defeats the purpose of CFF if all you really have left is a single UV platform.

[neoz]

Hmm interesting, I use Vudu on my 360 as my preferred UI.
I tried using the UI on TT on the 360 and it is pretty bad. But figured as much, better to cut the cost and bleed out the money on running the site and all that.

[RBBrittain]

Originally Posted by Zu Nim

Looks like Best Buy and Target are both out of the UV game.

There is NO mention of CinemaNow or Best Buy in those posts. In fact, last year Best Buy sold CinemaNow to Reliance Majestic Holdings (which bought out Rovi as operator of both CN & TT), who is now expanding CinemaNow to the UK & elsewhere. (Edit: Best Buy still carries CinemaNow gift cards and does limited promotion of CinemaNow in stores & online; I wouldn't be surprised to see Target do the same in place of TT.) The simplest and most likely transition for TT would be to simply transfer all libraries to CinemaNow.

Edit: A few months back, CinemaNow's Android app was updated to support HD playback (the only other UV apps that do are Flixster and the built-in app for Nook HD/HD+ & Galaxy Tab 4 Nook 10); Target Ticket's app wasn't. Now we know why.

[Greyman]

Originally Posted by Zu Nim

Looks like Best Buy and Target are both out of the UV game. Step up, Amazon!

Originally Posted by RBBrittain

There is NO mention of CinemaNow or Best Buy in those posts. In fact, last year Best Buy sold CinemaNow to Reliance Majestic Holdings .......

I would guess Zu is referring to Best Buy's sale of Cinemanow last year.

[huskerbear]

[QUOTE=sodapop;10354642]Too bad because I preferred the UI of Target Ticket much more than the clumsy UI of VUDU but it doesn't surprise me at all since I doubted that these UV retailers were actually making any money of it.


I'm sure there are those that prefer target ticket but isn't that one just one long line with no sorting? Clumsy UI of Vudu? What?

[huskerbear]

[QUOTE=

I suppose it kinda defeats the purpose of CFF if all you really have left is a single UV platform.[/QUOTE]




Why??

[Greg613]

We rented a movie a few weeks ago and it had to buffer twice. Alternately, Netflix, Vudu, and Amazon all stream flawlessly.

I wrote off Targetticket the first time I used it.

[Evil]

Seems odd that they'd be shutting it down after they just rotated a bunch of TV seasons with TT digital copies into stores. And they're still sending out advertisements for the service - I received an email from them this morning.

I guess we'll know for sure in a few days. I'll be disappointed if it's true since they were the only site providing extras with the redemption of quite a few titles.

[BlakkMajik3000]

As Zu mentioned, the new CEO of Target has been on a cost-cutting tear, so I'm not really surprised.

Am I the only one that thinks this actually highlights why UV is a better option? TT is going away, so what? Use Vudu, Flixster, Cinemanow, MGO, or, if you have Verizon FIOS, use that.

To be clear, it sucks to lose an option, but it will be easy to transition to another service. If Google, Apple, Microsoft, or Amazon announced they were getting out of the digital movie business, and you had your movies on one of those, you would be royally screwed.

[KenBuzz]

Over in the PIF thread, some folks with sizable credit balances at TT are scratching their heads, trying to figure out what to purchase before the service goes belly-up. The consensus opinion is to get:

- Titles that are linked from TT to UV, so when the plug is pulled you'll still have the show; and
- Titles that you can't get much cheaper via a D2D service (such as Vudu) for $2/$5

The key is figuring out which titles satisfy both conditions: TT/UV but not D2D. There's a fairly current list of all Vudu D2D titles in Google Docs, so the missing piece of data is a comprehensive list of all for-sale TT/UV titles. Given the two and about 20 minutes with a spreadsheet and a comprehensive list of recommended purchases can be generated.

Anyone here familiar enough with TT to know how to generate the TT/UV list, or know if a third-party has already worked up a list for TT similar to the Vudu released titles list?

[TBDave]

Originally Posted by BlakkMajik3000

Am I the only one that thinks this actually highlights why UV is a better option? TT is going away, so what? Use Vudu, Flixster, Cinemanow, MGO, or, if you have Verizon FIOS, use that.

The problem is that Flixster, CinemaNow and MGO all suck. TargetTicket was the 2nd best UV service. Sure, it was a very distant 2nd after Vudu. But at least it worked, had a good selection of titles, and some decent sales on UV movies.

Let's face it. If WalMart ever decides to drop Vudu, UV collections will be worthless.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by TBDave

Let's face it. If WalMart ever decides to drop Vudu, UV collections will be worthless.

That's a bit dramatic. Every UV movie should still be in your UV locker, and you can sign up for one of the UV services offered by the studios, such as Paramount, Sony, and Warner (Flixster), to keep watching your movies.

[TBDave]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

That's a bit dramatic. Every UV movie should still be in your UV locker, and you can sign up for one of the UV services offered by the studios, such as Paramount, Sony, and Warner (Flixster), to keep watching your movies.

Sure, you'll still own them and you can still watch them. But seriously, all the other UV services are garbage. Video/Audio quality sucks. Their catalogs are much smaller than Vudu. Some movies aren't carried by any other service. And the menus are so completely useless, it's impossible to browse through a large movie collection.

Would anyone have paid a cent on UV movies if Vudu didn't exist?

[Zu Nim]

Originally Posted by KenBuzz

Anyone here familiar enough with TT to know how to generate the TT/UV list, or know if a third-party has already worked up a list for TT similar to the Vudu released titles list?

List of UV-enabled movies on TT

I didn't get prices or anything and the sorting could be better. Good luck.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by TBDave

Sure, you'll still own them and you can still watch them. But seriously, all the other UV services are garbage. Would anyone have paid a cent on UV movies if Vudu didn't exist?

It seems like many BD.com members don't spend anything on their UV libraries.

[jscoggins]

By the way, I think the news is true. Target Ticket is not accepting preorders. You can only buy/rent movies that are already available.

[jokerzwild]

Could this be Canada only as part of the closures? With the closures they might just be pulling the service and support from Canada because of usage and distribution rights.

[Zu Nim]

In my first link, a Target employee reported taking the signs down. Target Canada employees are probably not concerned with the removal of one product's signage when the whole store is closing.

And as jscoggins noted, there are no more preorders.