Tag: Google Play

HDR10+ Format Touts New Partners, Including Vizio and Google Play

LAS VEGAS — HDR10+ Technologies, a joint venture of 20th Century Fox, Panasonic Corp. and Samsung Electronics, at CES reported that the total number of adopters of the dynamic metadata HDR format has increased to 94.

New partners, such as Vizio and Google Play, have added support of HDR10+ on their products.

The organization also announced new advances to the HDR10+ Logo and Certification program, including specification updates to accommodate DisplayPort and AV1.

HDR10+ is an enhanced version of HDR10 that leverages dynamic metadata to maximize the black level and peak brightness of every scene and frame on displays. The HDR10+ Technologies Certification and Logo program helps consumers find devices, content and services that deliver the format.

With Vizio now adding support for HDR10+ technology to their UHD TV lineup, reach of HDR10+ expands notably, according to the joint venture.

“Vizio is committed to delivering the best entertainment experience to the consumer, regardless of the format,” Bill Baxter, chief technology officer, Vizio, said in a statement. “Adding HDR10+ capability to the roster of HDR signals we already support means our customers will have the best viewing experience possible when they play HDR content on their VIZIO SmartCast TV.”

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Google Play Movies & TV will support HDR10+ for their UHD titles, including content from major studios, in 2020.

The HDR10+ UHD Blu-ray slate continues to grow with titles such as Fox’s X-Men:Dark Phoenix, Universal’s Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw and Warner’s IT: Chapter Two.

HDR10+ content mastering is supported by post-production companies such as Deluxe, Giant Interactive and Pixelogic.

In addition to Samsung Mobile, mobile phone manufacturers OnePlus, OPPO, Realme and Xiaomi have also announced support of HDR10+ on their mobile devices. Consumers are able to view content in HDR10+ as well as capture HDR10+ content with the camera then share through YouTube.

Support of HDR10+ also includes AV receivers from brands such as Onkyo and Pioneer. “We welcome that the HDR10+ feature is expanded to support AV Receiver,” said Kenji Miyagi, president of Onkyo and Pioneer, in a statement. “We plan to support HDR10+ on our future products, which we believe helps consumers enjoy a premium experience.”

The HDR10+ Logo and Certification program has expanded support for next generation technologies. Announced at IFA, 8K display certification is now available for HDR10+, which includes high-bandwidth HDMI 2.1. In addition, the HDR10+ specification has added DisplayPort connectivity.

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Finally, The Alliance for Open Media has published an Implementation Note for HDR10+ support with the AV1 encoding standard. Demonstrations of 8K AV1 HDR10+ content are available at Samsung booth 15006 at CES 2020.

Companies can learn more about the HDR10+ license and logo program, including white paper, final specifications and adopter agreements at http://www.hdr10plus.org.

Transactional Movie Marketing: How Big is Your Fan Base?

On Oct. 15, AMC Theatres — the world’s largest movie exhibitor — launched “AMC Theatres On Demand,” a transactional platform enabling its A-List members to purchase or rent studio (notably Paramount, Lionsgate) movies in the home on their retail release.

Key to AMC’s push into home entertainment is the exhibitor’s leverage of its 19-million Stubs A-List loyalty membership base in the same way Amazon Prime entices more than 100-million Prime members with access to movies, TV shows and third-party SVOD services via Prime Channels.

As the retail market embraces transactional VOD and electronic sell through in place of DVD and Blu-ray Disc, media companies are using pre-existing customer loyalty to jumpstart digital success.

When packaged-media kiosk operator Redbox launched Redbox Digital in 2017, its initial marketing thrust was to its 27 million Redbox Perks members.

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Indeed, Redbox claims that nearly half (48% ) of all Americans find out what’s new in home entertainment from its kiosks. The company recently enhanced the Perks program to reward members for each rental night instead of per title.

“The updated loyalty program increases the value of each Redbox experience,” Ash Eldifrawi, chief marketing and customer experience officer at Redbox, said at the time.

Last spring, Fandango launched a loyalty-rewards program — Fandango VIP+ — offering monetary credits for every four movies tickets purchased on its platform. VIP members also have 21 days to use their credit to stream movies and TV shows on FandangoNow.

“We needed to seed the system … to give customers an array of options to redeem their points,” Fandango chief marketing officer Adam Rockmore said in an interview.

While Fandango has not released data on VIP+ signups, Michael Pachter, media analyst at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, believes AMC has the upper hand.

“AMC may have a competitive advantage over Fandango and others delivering in-home entertainment given the reach of its rewards program, loyalty of millions [of] A-Listers and studio partnerships,” he wrote in a note. “We see little downside to AMC’s new on-demand offering, given its reach to loyal customers.”

Then again, FandangoNow is part of Movies Anywhere, the movie marketing platform (supported by Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Disney/Fox) directing its 8 million registered users to buy and rent titles from its retail partners, which include Apple iTunes, Prime Video, Walmart’s Vudu, Comcast’s Xfinity Store, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV — and just recently: Verizon.

Google Bows $4.99 ‘Play Pass’ Video Game Platform

Google Sept. 23 announced the launch of “Play Pass,” a $4.99 monthly service offering access to more than 350 apps and video games. All games are free of ads and upfront payments.

Subscriptions include a 10-day free trial. For a limited time (12 months), Play Pass costs $1.99/month, then $4.99/month thereafter.

Play Pass apps and games can still be found on the Play Store. All apps and games found on the Play Pass homepage or throughout the Play Store with the ticket are completely unlocked with your subscription.

“Play Pass helps encourage people to try new experiences they would not have otherwise,” Maria Sayans, CEO of Ustwo, said in a statement.

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Report: Disney+ Offering Free Trial in the Netherlands

The Disney+ app has been released on Google Play with exclusive access for the Netherlands for a free trial through Nov. 12, according to a report from Droid Life.

The layout of the service includes home, search, download and account tabs at the bottom, according to the website, with recommendations and the ability to filter by category, including Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars.

The service also allows users to pick favorite Disney characters to influence results, according to the report.

The app offers unlimited access to classics, unlimited downloads, and up to seven profiles and four concurrent streams, according to the report.

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Disney+ will formally launch Nov. 12 at $6.99 a month ($69.99 for a year). A special offer to D23 members (Disney’s fan club) who ordered a three-year subscription, let them receive the third year free, a savings of 33% or $23 per year for an effective monthly rate below $4.

Jim Henson Company Launches Kids’ Series for Download on iTunes and Google Play

The Jim Henson Company, in partnership with Premiere Digital Services, has launched several of its children’s series on iTunes and Google Play for download in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

Content includes seasons one and two of the language acquisition series “Word Party,” (U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia); season one of the animated series “Dot.,” created by Randi Zuckerberg (U.S. and U.K.); and the puppet series “Pajanimals,” “Jim Henson’s Mother Goose Stories” and “The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss” (U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia). The classic Henson fantasy series “The Storyteller” and “The Storyteller: Greek Myths” are available for download in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Australia.

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“Partnering with Premiere Digital Services has allowed more beloved Jim Henson Company titles to be available to our fans than ever before,” said Jim Henson VP of global distribution Anna Moorefield. “Consumers can expect additional favorites as we continue to make our productions available to established and new audiences wherever and whenever they want to watch.”

“We are thrilled to partner with The Jim Henson Company and expand the reach of their timeless and iconic catalog in the transactional VOD space,” said head of Premiere business development Jeff Goldman. “Working together with The Jim Henson Company and our platform partners, we have the experience and relationships to bring these amazing shows starring some of the best-loved characters to fans of all ages around the world.”

Disney 4K Movies Now Streaming on Google Play

Google Play has begun offering for the first time select Disney movies in 4K resolution. Titles include the first three Marvel Avengers movies (The Avengers, Age of Ultron, and Infinity War), Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Coco, The Lion King (1992), Solo: A Star Wars Story, and A Wrinkle in Time. Prices range from $19.99 to $24.99

 And starting July 30, Google Play (along with other digital outlets) will offer 4K and HD versions of Marvel Avengers: Endgame.

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Android users can access 4K Disney titles on Chromecast Ultra, 4K Android TVs, as well as most Samsung and LG Smart TVs, among other devices.

Video Streaming Widens Appeal Over Pay-TV Among Telecom Customers

Video streaming expanded its lead over subscription TV service in terms of customer satisfaction, rising to a score of 76 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index’s 100-point scale.

According to the ACSI Telecommunications Report 2018-2019, subscription TV service stagnated at 62, tied with internet service providers for last place among all industries tracked by the ACSI — subscription TV, ISPs, fixed-line telephone service, video-on-demand service and video streaming service.

Video streaming topped all industries tracked.

“Video streaming once again proves itself to be the best of the telecom industries in customer satisfaction,” said David VanAmburg, managing director at the ACSI. “Traditional telecom providers have tried to step up their game, but they’re not providing original content the way video streaming is, and in part they suffer guilt by association — if customers aren’t satisfied overall with Comcast, they’re probably going to ding Comcast’s on-demand service too.”

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Among video streaming services, Netflix secured first place at 79 after sharing the lead with Sony’s PlayStation Vue and Amazon Twitch the previous year. Netflix ranked at the top for original content among all streaming services, according to the ACSI. Sony’s PlayStation Vue landed in second place at 78, followed by the Microsoft Store at 77. Hulu stepped up to match Amazon Prime Video and Apple iTunes at 76. Five services clustered at 75: CBS All Access, Google Play, Amazon’s gaming platform Twitch, Walmart’s Vudu and Google’s YouTube. Dish Network’s Sling TV was the most improved, meeting HBO at 74. Starz matched the combined score of smaller platforms at 72, while Showtime followed close behind at 71. AT&T’s DirecTV Now fell to 69, ahead of only Sony Crackle, which remained unchanged at 68.

For the past six years, customer satisfaction with subscription TV has languished in the mid-to-low 60s, according to the study. AT&T’s U-verse TV held the lead for subscription TV at 69, followed by Verizon’s Fios at 68 and Dish Network at 67. AT&T’s satellite TV service DirecTV came in at 66, Altice’s Optimum tallied 61, and Charter’s Spectrum came in at 59 to tie with Cox Communications. Frontier Communications and Comcast’s Xfinity came in at 57. Mediacom followed closely at 56. Altice’s Suddenlink tumbles to the bottom of the category at 55.

Customer satisfaction with video-on-demand service slipped to an ACSI score of 67 as viewers continue to turn toward streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, according to the study. AT&T’s U-verse TV service held the lead a year ago, but this year shared the top spot with Verizon’s Fios at a score of 72. Satellite provider Dish Network dropped to 71 but remained just ahead of DirecTV, unchanged at 70. Frontier Communications debuted in the category with a score of 67, in line with the industry average. Three decliners met at 66: Cox Communications, Altice’s Optimum and Comcast’s Xfinity. Charter’s Spectrum remains unchanged at the bottom of the category with a 64.

Unchanged at a score of 62, ISPs remain at the bottom of the ACSI rankings. Most ISPs are still falling short of providing good service at an affordable price, according to the ACSI release. Verizon’s Fios was stable at the top of the category with an ACSI score of 70, but AT&T Internet closed in at 69. Altice’s Optimum fell to 63 but remained the leader among coaxial providers. Meanwhile, Comcast’s Xfinity inched closer to the industry average at 61. Cox Communications tallied 60, tying Altice’s Suddenlink. Charter’s Spectrum and CenturyLink came in at 59.

Industry Golf Tournament, Benefiting CF Foundation, Returns July 15

A popular entertainment industry golf tournament benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is back.

Industry veteran Mark Horak, who produced the annual golf tournament as part of the annual Los Angeles Entertainment Summit (LAES) trade show from 2012 to 2017, is once again inviting studio executives, content distributors and other industry players to a day on the greens.

This year’s golf tournament will be held on July 15, the Monday prior to the ninth annual LAES and OTT Conference, produced by the Entertainment Merchants Association.

The event will be held at the North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, an exclusive country club with 27 championship holes.

Attendees will include executives from the major and independent studios involved with the production and distribution of content, retailers and distributors of digital and physical content, consumer electronics manufacturers and various suppliers of supporting products and services for the media and entertainment industry.  Confirmed attendees include Google Play, Warner, Transworld, Redbox, Deloitte, DTS and others.

All proceeds will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation – a cause near and dear to the heart of Horak, who has two daughters with cystic fibrosis, a progressive, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time.

Horak, a former high-ranking executive at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and Redbox, said that through the LAES and golf tournament, the industry has raised nearly $2 million for the charity.

“LAES and the golf tournament are a great place for industry executives, distributors and vendors who value the chance to network and socialize with key clients and fellow industry executives they might not see in person very often,” Horak said. “Bringing the golf tournament back provides a great networking opportunity in a fun, casual environment and provides important financial support for the CF community”.

Registration for the event opens at 9:30 a.m., with a four-man “Best Ball Scramble” tournament with various skill contests and prizes from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The day concludes with a cocktail networking reception silent auction, followed by a plated dinner, a live auction and an awards presentation honoring key industry leaders and influencers who are driving the future successes of media and entertainment and helping raise awareness and funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Various sponsorships are available, ranging in price from $2,000 to $25,000. The individual participant rate is $350 or $500 with a tee sponsorship.

For more information, or to sign up, click here.

 

SVOD Driving Danish Home Entertainment Market

Consumer spending in Denmark’s home entertainment market grew 7% in 2018 to DKK 10.21 billion ($1.53 billion) — driven by over-the-top video, transactional VOD and EST growth, according to new data from Futuresource Consulting.

SVOD (i.e. Netflix) spending grew more than 30% and is expected to DKK 2 billion mark by the end of 2019, accounting for more than 20% of total video entertainment consumer spend.

“Subscriptions grew 25% in 2018 to 2.1 million, with three services gaining 100,000 or more subscribers,” analyst Tanzim Rahman said in a statement. “SVOD consumer spend nearly doubl[ed] between 2016 and 2018 … growing by DKK 852 million. SVOD accounts for the majority of total growth in the entertainment market over the same period, which saw revenue rise by DKK 1.2 billion.”

Futuresource said SVOD in Denmark continues to benefit from a competitive landscape, with an attractive range of services from global players Netflix and HBO to local offerings from Viaplay and TV2 Play, with Netflix leading the market with 39% of subscriptions in 2018.

Streaming services are supported by a strong broadband environment, with average speeds of 39 Mbps and household broadband penetration at 83%.

As a result, Denmark saw a total of 1.2 million households subscribing to at least one SVOD service, leading to household penetration of 46% in 2018 — on par with the Nordic region average, which led European penetration rates in 2018.

Futuresource contends the transactional video market across both digital and physical formats is expected to decline by 2% to DKK 554 million, with the physical market declining DKK 57 million. However, from 2019 the transactional segment is expected to see a return to growth, propelled by a progressive EST sector, which will grow 31% to DDK 163 million.

Transactional digital video growth accelerated in 2018 to 16%, with total spend reaching DKK 349 million, although this is just 20% of the SVOD market.

A solid year of EST growth meant that revenue increased 38% to DKK 124 million, doubling since 2016, and accounted for 35% of the 2018 transactional digital market.

“Growth in EST has been driven by Viaplay and Google Play, although iTunes still dominates the market, taking a 57% share of spend,” Rahman said. “Apple have signed agreements with major TV manufacturers and is expected to consolidate its position over the coming years and help further stimulate the market.”

Transactional VOD continues to grow, but at a slower pace than EST, with spend increasing 18% to DKK 96 million in 2019 — and an average of 16% annually through 2023.

Luncheon Fetes Fast Forward Award Honorees

FandangoNow VP of home entertainment Cameron Douglas, Redbox CEO Galen Smith, Google Play head of media and entertainment Jonathan Zepp, and the team at Apple iTunes were honored with Fast Forward Awards at a luncheon April 4 in Los Angeles at the Universal Hilton.

The awards, presented by Media Play News, recognize people, technologies, organizations, products or services that move the home entertainment industry forward.

The luncheon was produced by Media Play News and hosted by the Entertainment Merchants Association, which used the occasion to announce a new Leadership Development Foundation to foster executive talent.

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“All of today’s honorees are truly worthy of recognition for their leadership in our industry,” said EMA president and CEO Mark Fisher.

Media Play News publisher Thomas K. Arnold noted that all of the honorees are involved in the digital transactional business. Not all consumers want to get their entertainment buffet-style with the content curated for them as offered by subscription streaming services; many consumers would like to choose the content they would like to see a la carte, he said.

Warner Bros. Entertainment SVP of sales Michael Rweyemamu presented the award to Smith of Redbox, which has nearly doubled the selection of films and TV shows available on its year-old digital movie store, Redbox On Demand, and last December announced a new deal in which its app is featured on all Vizio Smartcast TV. Rweyemamu noted the irony of the occasion, considering the rocky relationship between the studio and the kiosk company several years ago when the two fought over release windows for low-priced rentals.

“Ten years ago, had you told me I’d be presenting an award to Redbox, I’d have said, ‘Hell, no!’” Rweyemamu joked.

He praised Smith for his leadership.

“Galen, you’ve been a great partner,” he said. “We started off on a rocky road like some relationships, but we’re in a really good place right now. And a lot of that has to do with the fact that you were really tenacious. You were really disciplined, really open to conversations to allow us to be where we are today.”

Smith also noted the evolution of the relationship between the two companies.

“In a similar vein, receiving an award from Warner Bros. I didn’t think was ever going to happen,” Smith said.

The company’s Redbox on Demand digital service “is a real natural evolution for our business,” Smith said.

“We’ve got 50 million customers that rent from us every year; it’s an opportunity for us to help them move to digital,” he said. “This is the last bastion of customers who haven’t moved yet. We have an opportunity to bring them over.”

He also praised the transactional model.

“We did a stint in a more of an SVOD-type business, and it didn’t really work,” he said, in reference to a failed joint venture with Verizon. “Our consumers are transactional, and so we want to do everything we can to support the business.”

In presenting the award to FandangoNow’s Douglas, industry veteran and former DreamWorks home entertainment chief Kelly Sooter praised him for his ability to anticipate trends and forge strong partnerships and lasting relationships — and for always being in touch with the consumer.

“He knows everything about … how consumers behave,” she said.

FandangoNow has been revving up its promotional muscle and is aggressively tying in digital purchases and rentals with its movie-ticket-selling sister company.

Douglas noted he got involved in the digital business at DreamWorks when he was asked to help with a startup (M-GO, which eventually was acquired by movie service Fandango and became FandangoNow).

“As we finally refined what we were doing and launched in 2013 as a transactional service, I truly felt like I was now building the future of digital home entertainment,” Douglas said.

He noted FandangoNow’s early and strong support for 4K and initiatives such as binge bundles and the “Fresh Picks” program, which curates titles deemed “Fresh” by sister service Rotten Tomatoes.

Praising Google Play’s Zepp, who was unable to attend, Paramount Pictures president of worldwide home media distribution Bob Buchi said, “He truly has the talent and the vision to market very impressively to consumers and really change the way that they behave.”

Buchi noted that Google Play, which is in its seventh year, “really put a movie store in the hand of millions of consumers with the Android mobile platform [and] really elevated and streamlined the experience of purchasing or renting a digital product, and opened up a whole new world in literally over 100 countries.”

“They continued to enhance the product day in and day out,” he said. “It’s now on every major television manufacturer and streaming sticks, so it’s really never been easier to rent or to purchase a movie.

“They’re also super champions of 4K which is great for adoption and great for all of our futures.”

Google Play Movies & TV is currently on a big 4K push, automatically upgrading customers’ past movie purchases to the new format, so they can stream them in 4K, even if the movies were originally purchased in standard or high definition.

Google Play’s Bill Kotzman accepted the award on Zepp’s behalf and read a statement from the honoree: “Transactional home entertainment is and will remain a key part of the media and entertainment business.… Google continues to invest heavily in transactional, and we’re excited to continue to grow the category in partnership with all of you.”

The EMA’s Steven Apple accepted the award for the iTunes team. Apple’s iTunes service began the year with a game-changing deal with No. 1 TV manufacturer Samsung. New Samsung SmartCast TVs will allow consumers to access their iTunes movie and TV show libraries through a new app.

Photos of the event are here.