HULU versus Netflix versus VUDU??
Waiiiiit a minute…what is Vudu? Why don’t I know about this media platform? What do you mean there is no monthly subscription fee? WHAT IS HAPPENING?
This was me, sitting in a lunch and learn in a Lionsgate conference room Tuesday afternoon. It was my first time and I was kind of nervous. Our Executive Vice President and GM of Home Entertainment was giving a talk on his journey to “EVPness” and the future of home entertainment. I, of course, the nerd with a notebook was writing down every single thing he said. There were a couple of terms I was circling so that I could look them up later; EST, Ultra Violet (isn’t this a type of radiation? what?) Then he asked anyone who had a VUDU account to raise their hand.
Damnit. VUDU? What? No I don’t have one of those…shit I am the girl who doesn’t have a VUDU account. What an IDIOT. Oh wait…not very many of these people have a VUDU account. Weird, what is this VUDU thing he speaks of? Who are those five people who are raising their hand? Why are they in on this?
He went on to talk about VUDU and how it is a non-subscription based video streaming sight, like Netflix and HULU but you just don’t pay the monthly fee. Could this be true? Could I be logging into VUDU every day and getting my fix of new episodes of New Girl and The Good Wife without a monthly subscription?
Not quite.
However, instead of paying a monthly fee just to stream content and then throw it back into the internet universe never to be seen again…I can own my content. Own the content? But why? Why would one want to own the content when everyone can just stream it for $7.99 a month?
I didn’t have the answer to this question and I was much too afraid to raise my hand and ask him. So that night when I was back at my apartment I decided to find out more about this VUDU.
Things that I discovered:
VUDU versus NETFLIX
- VUDU gets titles as soon as they are out for DVD release–there is no wait time–you want to watch it, log into VUDU and watch it. NETFLIX however due to certain agreements with certain studios/partners wont give you that new stuff until 28 days after its DVD release.
Read more Here: TechCrunch: Netflix New Releases
- VUDU lets you stream movies that are still in theaters. What? I mean—depending on the studio and which movie–but its happening–it’s really happening.
- NETFLIX doesn’t have a limit to the amount of times you can watch something. VUDU makes you pay to rent something or to buy something–if you rent it you only have 24 hours to watch, similar to ITUNES.
- NETFLIX has original content and apparently it is amazing. David Fincher anyone?
Read more on that here: Entertainment Weekly ‘House Of Cards’ trailer; Kevin Spacey will not be ignored
- VUDU has this thing called HDX (there are more of those letters that mean something) This translates to High Definition on ANY platform (your PS3, your Xbox, your Blue-ray Player, whatever). NETFLIX does not have this, as of now.
Read more here: VUDU Starts streaming HDX over the web
Honestly, the list of discoveries goes on and on and on. The real question that I am trying to answer (as well as every network exec out there) Is what does this all mean for the future of Broadcast Television & Home Entertainment? I am grasping what it means for Home Entertainment, find a way to make people want to own the content instead of just rent the content. There are little tricks to this, VUDU has it so if you buy the content you can stream it from multiple devices at the same time. Itunes and VUDU have put a timer on the content if you rent it, and we all know how much we value our time these days, 24 hours to watch a movie? I NEED MORE TIME.
So that brings us to HULU (stick with me here). The black sheep. Oh you want to put all of our television shows on the INTERNET?! That’s crazy talk Jason Kilar. But it wasn’t crazy talk and it wasn’t just Jason Kilar that wanted these shows on the internet, it was you, the consumer, demanding that you be able to get access to your favorite shows when you have TIME to watch them.
So before when this was an advertisers driven business…it has now become a consumer driven business. You’ll notice when you are watching a show on HULU that the advertisements are tailored to your location, your age demographic and most recently to the content you are consuming.
Read More: *REVENGE Target Ad Campaign
Then there is HULU Plus which I once had a subscription to but one day decided it wasn’t necessary. This allows you to watch certain programs the VERY next day. Forget your DVR, forget waiting 21 days on regular HULU to see the next episode of New Girl, just pay $7.99 a month and you can have as much Jess and Schmidt as you want, when you want. *Also access to a different library than regular HULU users*
More Here: HULU: The Future of TV
Is your head spinning? Mine sure is. I just want to watch my shows and my movies when I have time. I don’t want ten ways to do it, I want one. I want to sign into one place and click on one button and get what I want and what I need. (I know, so demanding)
So what does this mean? As far as I can tell the only reason that broadcast television even exists is for sports and the news. Most other things you can find online, and honestly, do I really need to see Revenge on Sundays at 9PM when I can just log into HULU on Monday and watch it when I have time?
There is a war going on in the entertainment business. The fact is we need to find a way to continue to create good content that drives revenue but do it in online. The internet isn’t going anywhere and the generations are just becoming less patient. The result? Commercials for TV’s that can be moved to any room in your house and still function (like I care when I have an Ipad), negotiations over libraries that are taking way too long to settle and a somewhat rogue network void form of entertainment such as HULU’s Battleground and NETFLIX’ House of Cards.
The Wizard of Oz is no longer in control. The munchkins have run off with Dorothy and The Scarecrow and they are taking over the future of the entertainment industry. The question is, are the networks and studios going to join them, or are they going to be left behind in Emerald City to perish?
So subscribe (or don’t subscribe) to whatever medium you want when it comes to streaming your favorite television shows and movies. Either way, you can plan on taking that TV of yours out to the front yard and going all Office Space on it sometime in the near future.
Teresa Sabatine 