Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

To this day Netflix is still in negative cash flow and a growing debt load.

And Walmart sold Vudu because it was nothing but a money pit.


Apple made a lot of money with itunes by squeezing artists and over charging customers. But movies are a much harder beast. It was easy for the consumer to rationalize that convenience fee (i.e. CD is less per song but I only want one or two of them so I am still better off buying the song on itunes) and artists that squeezing ( sales with crappy margins on itunes or no sales at all). But none of that is true when it comes to films (no one wants just a chapter of a film and so it is comparing apples to apples and virtual movie distribution is extremely fractured and the studios way too big to need the movie services)

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by alchav21

You're right Steedeel, that is the direction Studios are going Direct to Consumer Streaming. I told this to AT&T years ago, with Content and Infrastructure they could be King of the Hill! AT&T never wanted to be a Dumb Pipe, I think my Investment in them will finally start to pay off!

Oh you have their latest financial move was driven by Jason Kilar, the founder and former CEO of Hulu, who became CEO of WarnerMedia in May and quickly initiated an executive shakeup. Previously he was a Amazon executive. So qualified to run WarnerMedia.

Remember this interview when HBOMax launched? WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar Tackles HBO Max Launch, Brand Confusion, Streaming Rivals In CNBC Interview - Deadline

“If you take a look at the last 60 days by any measure, from my perspective we’re in a really good position,” Kilar said of HBO Max, which drew 4.1 million signups in its first two months. “If you look at what last year we thought and hoped we would be at the end of 2020, which is 36 million HBO and HBO Max subscribers, we just announced a couple weeks ago that we’re actually north of 36 million already. And obviously, the number is going up everyday.”

Kilar was pressed for how he would compare the HBO Max numbers with those of rivals Disney+ and Peacock. Disney reported 10 million signups in the first day for Disney+ last November, and said last week it now has more than 60 million global subscribers. Peacock has drawn 10 million sign-ups since launching in April (a metric, it should be noted, that is different from actual subscriptions). Kilar, formerly a senior executive at Amazon and founding CEO of Hulu, gently but firmly pushed back on both fronts.

“If you actually dive deeper in terms of apples-to-apples comparison, especially on the NBC side of things, I think you’ll see a bit of a different story,” he said, without elaborating. On Disney, he echoed a common critique in the industry and among Wall Street skeptics that the service is successful but limited. John Stankey, now CEO of WarnerMedia parent AT&T, called it “not that deep” at an investor conference last December, when he was running the entertainment company and prepping the launch of HBO Max

He sounds like you, things are getting better every day.

Look currently 8.6 Million subscribers of the toady HBO Max. Now you have this ridiculous same day release on HBO Max for free of all box office films directly impacting theater and even more AT&T income take from movies being pitched to wall street.

If AT&T was just a dumb pipe before they have only become the dumbest streaming service in the business, that if the miss mash pile of content they have now isn't good enough to attract large amounts of subscribers what is one box office title going to do for them limited to first 30 days?

They are a modern day AOL thinking that consumers are always there, instead of designing a service that attracts consumers.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Well I've been at it since day one with UltraViolet and I don't know if I lost anything or not, don't really care. I gave away hundreds of of UV codes.

I also procured a Sony FMP-X10 right after it came out. I skipped the FMP-X1 because it had no remote. These were some of the first UHD devices available. The X10 could stream UHD content from Netflix, also another first.

Some folks procured quite a few movies on the X10 (X1?) at $30 each. All gone now because Sony shut down the Movie Store and these devices stopped working. Several tried to get members to ban together to file a class action law suit. I posted it would be a lost cause and they needed to read their Sony TOS/EULA they had agreed to. You had to do this before the device would work.

Why Sony still shows the X10 on their site and why Amazon (X1 and X10) still sells them is one of the A/V great mysteries!!!

I was one of the X1 user. Lost 20-ish titles when they decided not to support that unit anymore.

[flyry]

Originally Posted by Ender14

I watch Spare Change as well and while he does say that streaming quality is good, he also says that for the best quality you should get the discs. Every. Single. Time.

I always wonder if that's his real voice or his "smooth" radio style voice. lol

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

To this day Netflix is still in negative cash flow and a growing debt load.

You may like to read “It’s Time to Streamline Streaming Services” here (mostly about SVOD and AVOD). IMO, that ship sailed long ago and streaming remains a hardware and software CF because there was/is not a central governing body.

Good article but as we all know, this is not the music industry.

[Ender14]

Originally Posted by flyry

I always wonder if that's his real voice or his "smooth" radio style voice. lol

Lol, I never thought of that.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by flyry

I always wonder if that's his real voice or his "smooth" radio style voice. lol

I have watched a fair amount of his stuff too and thought he was whispering or something.

[sapiendut]

I don’t like his voice. Sounds very insincere.

[alchav21]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

That’s an unproven market. A very, very unproven market.

As for AT&T, aren’t they 150 billion in debt with a under performing streaming service?

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

To this day Netflix is still in negative cash flow and a growing debt load.

IMO, that ship sailed long ago and streaming remains a hardware and software CF because there was/is not a central governing body.

Hey you guys, Bob Chepek says "Everything has been Accelerated!" Go to John Campea's Class Room, he has some figures for this new Revenue Stream. Around the 26 min. mark:

WB To Launch All 2021 Movies On HBO Max: Movie Theaters Are Done - The John Campea Show - YouTube

[sapiendut]

Yet another YouTuber. SMH.

[flyry]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

I don’t like his voice. Sounds very insincere.

I think he's just a bit douchey/pretentious + NPR voice

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by alchav21

Hey you guys, Bob Chepek says "Everything has been Accelerated!" Go to John Campea's Class Room, he has some figures for this new Revenue Stream. Around the 26 min. mark:

WB To Launch All 2021 Movies On HBO Max: Movie Theaters Are Done - The John Campea Show - YouTube

I don’t care what he says, never heard of him. The figures have already been mentioned and it’s a very mixed bag. The industry needs the cinema back, it’s that simple.
Some random nobody isn’t going to convince me otherwise.

[bhampton]

I watched the spare change equipment tour and had mixed feelings.

He has some similar gear that I have. I do respect that. And I enjoy his videos. I do have a popcorn machine and posters and my gear rack is in the lobby like his.

But there’s so much unnecessary stuff. For example, a kaliedescape, a HTPC and multiple UHD disc players. If I was silly enough to have a kaliedecape system it would be my only video source component. I strive for simplicity with my ht. The K system has certain advantages and if you need several other video components its not living up to its purpose.

https://youtu.be/dITsG7LSSbw

I guess he has to review stuff as kind of his business but two TVs in the lobby one of which shows movies nonstop muted ... there are things I consider overboard. I would put those setups in another place.

Ultimately he has different goals than I do. I’m not taking pot shots or bashing his system. maybe I am. If I was him with his stuff my to do list would be...

1 program the harmony to control the lights and remove those iPads.

2 program with HTPC complete with GPU, MadVR, and 3D LUT and retire the K and one of the two UHD players. It’s good to have disc playback ability in case you forget to rip something or want to Redbox something so keep one of the UHD players ... I would suggest the Panasonic over the now buggy Oppo.

3 put the light saber and other toys in storage.(just my way... toys live upstairs in the play room at my house and if they get neglected they get donated.)

4 give away the Tvs or put them in rooms where they can be setup right. Maybe use the better one in a proper setup and use the muted one as a movie poster slide show. (Rotated)

5 hopefully he has a dedicated circuit for his Ht gear. Otherwise I would also have that on this list. That should come before those power conditioners.

My own Ht goal and philosophy involves keeping it simple as possible. I would love to hear what some of other members would do given all that gear.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by bhampton

1 program the harmony to control the lights and remove those iPads.

I would love to hear what some of other members would do given all that gear.

Did not watch the video but I would never use a Harmony in my HT. Could not if I wanted to because it is limited to 15 devices. My URC MX-980 can do up to 255 devices. The total depends on how much graphics and macros one uses.

And yes I do control all lighting and some equipment via X10 and the 980 remote using macros.

[bhampton]

It’s a good video. I like his videos and do like his setup but if I were him I would do it differently

I imagine everyone would do things a bit different. Fun to think about.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I would love to hear what some of other members would do given all that gear.

Another thing I would do/have done, that is to use an acoustic transparent screen. My LCR speakers are D'Appolito types (using 2 tweeters) with all three on the same acoustic horizontal plane with the vertical acoustic center at ear level when seated.

[Gretiem]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I watched the spare change equipment tour and had mixed feelings.

He has some similar gear that I have. I do respect that. And I enjoy his videos. I do have a popcorn machine and posters and my gear rack is in the lobby like his.

But there’s so much unnecessary stuff. For example, a kaliedescape, a HTPC and multiple UHD disc players. If I was silly enough to have a kaliedecape system it would be my only video source component. I strive for simplicity with my ht. The K system has certain advantages and if you need several other video components its not living up to its purpose.

https://youtu.be/dITsG7LSSbw

I guess he has to review stuff as kind of his business but two TVs in the lobby one of which shows movies nonstop muted ... there are things I consider overboard. I would put those setups in another place.

Ultimately he has different goals than I do. I’m not taking pot shots or bashing his system. maybe I am. If I was him with his stuff my to do list would be...

1 program the harmony to control the lights and remove those iPads.

2 program with HTPC complete with GPU, MadVR, and 3D LUT and retire the K and one of the two UHD players. It’s good to have disc playback ability in case you forget to rip something or want to Redbox something so keep one of the UHD players ... I would suggest the Panasonic over the now buggy Oppo.

3 put the light saber and other toys in storage.(just my way... toys live upstairs in the play room at my house and if they get neglected they get donated.)

4 give away the Tvs or put them in rooms where they can be setup right. Maybe use the better one in a proper setup and use the muted one as a movie poster slide show. (Rotated)

5 hopefully he has a dedicated circuit for his Ht gear. Otherwise I would also have that on this list. That should come before those power conditioners.

My own Ht goal and philosophy involves keeping it simple as possible. I would love to hear what some of other members would do given all that gear.

Majority of his gear are loaners from Value electronics, Zapitti, McIntosh. He is always switching gear to whatever company gives him expensive toys to play with.

[bhampton]

Yeah,

My issue was just too much stuff and being a more than hobby for him I can understand why he currently runs too much stuff.

I can also sort of understand having that much stuff in general. The Kaliedescape may be "enough" for some users but clearly it doesn't do 3D and not everything is available on the store and the prices are high.

Likewise the HTPC could do what he's doing with his Oppo, but It would take a lot of luck and time optimizing.

I do try to keep things simple in my own setup. I actually have 2 source components for now: A Panasonic UB420 for discs and an ATV4K for everything else.

-Brian

[gotmule]

I am curious about his “Apartment” and if it is a detached garage sort of thing, or if it is a traditional apartment. He must have some understanding neighbors if it is a traditional one. I don’t subscribe to his channel, but I have watched a handful of episodes as he did a review on the subs I switched to, and he had Jon Herron from Trinnov on a couple of times, so I watched those. In this day and age without as many print options for reviews, these online guys give us some information at least, but I do take their opinions with a grain of salt.

[gotmule]

Hey Wendell and anyone else on the fence, Boardwalk Empire just had a big price drop. I am on the third season and am getting more and more into it. It’s like the Sopranos set it the 20s, only with more violence. Scorsese produced a bunch of the episodes, and the acting is top notch. I love a good period piece, and this one falls into that category.