VUDU TO BE ACQUIRED BY FANDANGO

[boogiedownvudu]

This legit has me worried. I have fandango account. I just signed up for it just to keep it as a back up. Most of my movies are ported there. But wow the app just doesn't work for me. It crashes frequently and is slow. I have yet to purchase one movie on there. I was comfortable with vudu because it was owned by wal mart. I figured wal mart aint going no where. Now were running out of lockers to keep our movies. Digital is making less sense now.

[RayDyer]

Do you need a safe space or something? This is crappy news and people are entitled to their opinion. Sorry someone "splashed off" on you.

*

The request that triggered the original poster was nothing more than a request for civility.

At what point did it become too emotional to ask people to behave with civility when bad news comes?

I'm sorry that a request for people to behave like responsible adults impacted you so deeply that you had to defend someone's right to tantrum publicly.

[RayDyer]

I have to admit that I'm extremely nervous about this news, too. I just signed up for a FandangoNow account about a month ago. I find the interface to be years behind the experience here at Vudu, and only about half of my movie collection is MA.

I think the thing that concerns me the most is the fact that I have about 1000 movies that are on FandangoNow, but are NOT Movies Anywhere. I'd like to think that those movies would just transfer over to FandangoNow as part of the merger, but the initial press release can't address anything that specific.

The company I've worked for has bought many companies over the years, and also been bought once or twice. A couple of those have been "the largest merger ever," and required government approval to be completed. The press release linked in this thread is almost verbatim the same release that goes out ahead of any merger that merits a press release. On one hand, it doesn't give us a reason to worry, but on the other hand there's nothing in it that gives us confidence beyond the next few weeks, maybe months.

Apprehension is normal, but at this point the only thing we know for sure is that FandangoNow intends to buy Vudu. Everything else in that press release just says, "Nothing has changed yet. We'll let you know when something changes."

I totally agree with everyone here who has said that, if we're lucky, FandangoNow will just slap their logo on the Vudu interface. It's happened before.

Heck, even crazier things have happened. When Bell South bought AT&T, they kept the name AT&T. It's improbable, but not impossible, that we could still be customers of "Vudu" this time next year, but everything behind the scenes is run by different people...

[bestquality]

They could keep the Vudu ecosystem (rebranded or not) and import FandangoNow accounts into Vudu's system using a separate login like they do for Vudu and Walmart accounts. I hope we can choose whether to merge accounts or not. I use different emails on Vudu and FandangoNow.

[boogiedownvudu]

I just logged into my apple account. if fandango where to disappear with porting there movies into apple, i would loose about 200 titles. Yup this is scary. I'm watching a move on my apple tv now, and it looks amazing. I normally use my chromecast to watch vudu, but Im gonna switch now lol. I remember when vudu had the best quality.

[IPhoneUser]

The Fandangonow android app is horrible with its frequent crashing but the web interface gets the job done I suppose. As good as Google Play which is faint praise I know. Don't know how it is for any other device since I only have an Apple TV and Fandangonow is not on there. Vudu has one for the ATV but it's very simplistic. Haven't heard much complaints regarding Fandangonow on Roku.

As long as both Vudu and Fandangonow consolidate their libraries so that we can keep our exclusives, then I'll be fine with it. Just allow us to merge our libraries with our Vudu or Fandangonow login just like we did with UV or MA. I'd hate to lose device support for Apple, but it would ultimately be a small price to pay considering how much I invested in my library.

[diamond204]

The way you know this is going to go down is by this: If you were a big company of Comcast's size and say you acquire iTunes (not happening but this is a 'What if?') ... after the acquisition would you dare migrate all your itunes users from itunes to a product with far far fewer users like Fandangonow? The answer is HELL NO! LOL

The situation with Vudu is not too far off from this one. Vudu will be staying. It may be rebranded but it will remain and Vudu users should be unscathed.

With today's Fandangonow several things can happen. #1 It can go away and they can rebrand Vudu (although in digital the Vudu brand is stronger than Fandangonow). or #2 They can keep both and integrate some basic systems perhaps like logins and gift cards. or #3 They can re purpose one of them - this would likely be Fandangonow- to say just be a service that plays Advertising Video On Demand (like Vudu free to watch) which is becoming very hot right now.

Comcast is also in the Process of launching their online platform 'Peacock' which is the new exclusive home to 'Friends' and others. Peacock will have a paid level and a free ad supported level. Comcast is acquiring and creating ALOT of new content as well ala Disney Plus. Comcast can use Fandangonow and Vudu as 'spill over' networks to Peacock as their apps (especially Vudu) are already on most devices. Much like Disney has Hulu. This would be a faster way for them to get their content all over the place.

I think this acquisition will be a great thing for Vudu users because the true power players now and in the future are the Content Owners and NBC/Universal is of course a top content owner. Walmart bowed out because they saw the high cost of creating new content to compete with similar platforms like iTunes and Prime. Content creation is already in the budget for NBC/Uni/Comcast so the acquisition of Vudu makes perfect sense for all parties involved. It seems like a win-win to me.

[mike1sc]

Look folks, this may not be as bad as many are saying. I like the fact that a venue like Apple did not acquire Vudu because good competition is good for the end consumer (us). I opened a FandangoNow account about the same time as my Vudu account. The big glaring differences between FN and Vudu is there has been no Dolby Vision with FN, and there is obviously some service response concerns, especially after UV crashed and burned, it seems FN has been running on empty. But while everyone is saying how great Vudu has been, Vudu has streamed at a much lower rate than Movies Anywhere or Apple does, so this purchase may result in something better than what we have now. Personally, I will miss the D+D program at Vudu as I have dumped a substantial amount of money into getting 4K physical disks on their release dates, and this sale will probably kill that program, due to the connection with Wal Mart will come to an end. Lets face it, we don't have any choice except to wait and see, and I'll end with what I started with, that this may not be such a bad thing. Let's hope not.

[rscharer]

It is currently 1:14 A.M. CST Thursday April 23rd and I cannot access Vudu on any device. Hoping it's just maintenance.

[TENIME]

It is currently 1:14 A.M. CST Thursday April 23rd and I cannot access Vudu on any device. Hoping it's just maintenance.

That's weird, I've been watching only Vudu since 10pm CST 4/22 until about 10 min ago (8am-ish CST).

[rdawg]

Fingers crossed that once this acquisition takes place we're still able to upgrade any HD/HDX titles to UHD when they become available. With FN that can't happen since UV went away...there's several in my library I'd like upgraded at both retailers.

[quackman]

Fingers crossed that once this acquisition takes place we're still able to upgrade any HD/HDX titles to UHD when they become available. With FN that can't happen since UV went away...there's several in my library I'd like upgraded at both retailers.

Oh man, that's for certain! That is critical.

[IPhoneUser]

Fingers crossed that once this acquisition takes place we're still able to upgrade any HD/HDX titles to UHD when they become available. With FN that can't happen since UV went away...there's several in my library I'd like upgraded at both retailers.

The majority of my UHD content is already locked into Apple's ecosystem so it's not as big a deal for me. Sure, I may occasionally miss out on some deals (couldn't buy Born on the Fourth of July when it was on sale because the UHD is a Fandangonow exclusive), but Apple's UHD selection and prices are usually superior anyway. Plus, I wouldn't rule out other retailers matching ITunes free upgrades in the future which is why I'm still hesitant on spending a lot of money on titles I already own.

[boojitede]

The way you know this is going to go down is by this: If you were a big company of Comcast's size and say you acquire iTunes (not happening but this is a 'What if?') ... after the acquisition would you dare migrate all your itunes users from itunes to a product with far far fewer users like Fandangonow? The answer is HELL NO! LOL

The situation with Vudu is not too far off from this one. Vudu will be staying. It may be rebranded but it will remain and Vudu users should be unscathed.

With today's Fandangonow several things can happen. #1 It can go away and they can rebrand Vudu (although in digital the Vudu brand is stronger than Fandangonow). or #2 They can keep both and integrate some basic systems perhaps like logins and gift cards. or #3 They can re purpose one of them - this would likely be Fandangonow- to say just be a service that plays Advertising Video On Demand (like Vudu free to watch) which is becoming very hot right now.

Comcast is also in the Process of launching their online platform 'Peacock' which is the new exclusive home to 'Friends' and others. Peacock will have a paid level and a free ad supported level. Comcast is acquiring and creating ALOT of new content as well ala Disney Plus. Comcast can use Fandangonow and Vudu as 'spill over' networks to Peacock as their apps (especially Vudu) are already on most devices. Much like Disney has Hulu. This would be a faster way for them to get their content all over the place.

I think this acquisition will be a great thing for Vudu users because the true power players now and in the future are the Content Owners and NBC/Universal is of course a top content owner. Walmart bowed out because they saw the high cost of creating new content to compete with similar platforms like iTunes and Prime. Content creation is already in the budget for NBC/Uni/Comcast so the acquisition of Vudu makes perfect sense for all parties involved. It seems like a win-win to me.

They're not keeping both. That makes no sense. Eventually one of them is going away and I hope and am optmistic like many others that it's FN that does. We keep VUDU's interface and maybe get a new name on it. or they keep it as VUDU and just integrate the FN libraries and the rewards systems with Fandango .

[boogiedownvudu]

They're not keeping both. That makes no sense. Eventually one of them is going away and I hope and am optmistic like many others that it's FN that does. We keep VUDU's interface and maybe get a new name on it. or they keep it as VUDU and just integrate the FN libraries and the rewards systems with Fandango .

The fandango now app is legit trash. It could go either way. Fandango the brand that is more then movie streams. Its how I buy my movie theater tickets. But that would be dope, see the movie on the big screen and get a voucher for the digital release when its eventually released.