Vudu - please join forces with Google Play!

[BlueYellow]

With Apple's 4K announcement on Tuesday, it seems clear that everyone who sells digital entertainment must make changes to stay competitive.

Since Walmart and Google are already working together against a common enemy in the retail world (i.e. Amazon), why not extend those joint efforts to the digital entertainment space? A combined effort of the two companies would be in a much better position to take on Apple and Amazon.

While there are a few ways this joint effort could play out, I think the best way could be for Walmart and Google to spin-off, respectively, the Vudu and Google Play businesses into a new entity jointly owned by the two parent companies.

I would probably stick with the Google Play name for the new entity, as the Google name has significantly more brand equity than the Vudu name.

To the best of my knowledge, Vudu still operates somewhat distinctly from Walmart, and Google has already been spinning out businesses since it adopted its Alphabet structure. Therefore, the spin-off should not be overly difficult for either parent company.

Additionally, both companies are geographically in Silicon Valley, which makes the integration process much easier.

All DVDs and Blu-rays sold in Walmart with digital copies would carry a sticker saying something to the effect of "Includes free digital copy for your Google account! Watch in YouTube!" This removes the step of anyone with a gmail account having to create a new Vudu account, and thus could lead to many more physical media buyers adopting digital.

Anyway, all of this is obviously much more complex than what I have laid out above, but I think it is something the management teams of both companies should seriously think about (if they have not already).

Thank you for considering this.

[SinGA]

Re: Vudu - please join forces with Google Play!

nah, keep VUDU VUDU!

[Jerry8169]

Re: Vudu - please join forces with Google Play!

The easiest way to do this kind of "Merger" would be for google play to join the UV ecosystem, then all your UV movies would freely flow between the 2 providers, theoretically of course.

[BlueYellow]

Re: Vudu - please join forces with Google Play!

The easiest way to do this kind of "Merger" would be for google play to join the UV ecosystem, then all your UV movies would freely flow between the 2 providers, theoretically of course.

I think all of us would have loved to see Google Play in UV. That may have given UV the legitimacy it needed to thrive. But for now, it seems that the momentum in the digital content locker world is with the upcoming "Movies Anywhere."

Regardless, I still think Walmart and Google need to work together in the digital content space (not just movies, but also music and books). Apple and Amazon appear to hold the #1 and #2 spaces right now, and it's tough to compete if you're #3 or below. Together, Walmart and Google could have an impressive physical and digital distribution network for content.

[morfiend]

Re: Vudu - please join forces with Google Play!

The easiest way to do this kind of "Merger" would be for google play to join the UV ecosystem, then all your UV movies would freely flow between the 2 providers, theoretically of course.

UV is choking on its last breath. Vudu would need to merge into some system that google play and the studios could agree too. Still holding out hope for some type of Movies Anywhere system to replace UV in 2018 or 2019 (if it lasts that long). I'm too invested into the UV system, if it dies without a merger, I'm not repurchasing everything in a new digital system.

[BlueYellow]

Re: Vudu - please join forces with Google Play!

UV is choking on its last breath. Vudu would need to merge into some system that google play and the studios could agree too. Still holding out hope for some type of Movies Anywhere system to replace UV in 2018 or 2019 (if it lasts that long). I'm too invested into the UV system, if it dies without a merger, I'm not repurchasing everything in a new digital system.

I think the studios would be happy to see another strong player in the mix to help mitigate the increasingly concentrated power of Netflix, Apple and Amazon. A Google/Vudu combination is about as good as it gets.

And I'm with you - if UV disappears without all our rights transferring to a comparable replacement, I will be done with digital move collecting forever.

[IPhoneUser]

Re: Vudu - please join forces with Google Play!

I think the studios would be happy to see another strong player in the mix to help mitigate the increasingly concentrated power of Netflix, Apple and Amazon. A Google/Vudu combination is about as good as it gets.

And I'm with you - if UV disappears without all our rights transferring to a comparable replacement, I will be done with digital move collecting forever.

I honestly don't know why Apple has as much command as it does since it's very restrictive compared to other platforms. People like to mention that Vudu is only a single provider, but at least that single provider is accessible on just about every device/streaming platform except Amazon. Meanwhile those who don't own an Apple TV have no reason to be part of their ecosystem.

Amazon, although offering better delivery options than Apple, provides a fairly average consumer experience for digital content. Vudu has them beat in practically every regard.

[BlueYellow]

Re: Vudu - please join forces with Google Play!

I honestly don't know why Apple has as much command as it does since it's very restrictive compared to other platforms. People like to mention that Vudu is only a single provider, but at least that single provider is accessible on just about every device/streaming platform except Amazon. Meanwhile those who don't own an Apple TV have no reason to be part of their ecosystem.

Amazon, although offering better delivery options than Apple, provides a fairly average consumer experience for digital content. Vudu has them beat in practically every regard.

Agreed that Vudu has the best video platform. The trouble is that most people don't know it. We don't want this to turn into yet another episode of the superior platform losing to the more popular one. That's why I think Google could provide a lot of value to the Vudu platform by offering a leading level of technological credibility, ease of adoption for new collectors of digital media and nearly unparalleled name recognition. The combination of the Google Play and Vudu platforms would create a formidable player in the space that could give Apple and Amazon a run for their money.