UV + 2 mil. So Far in '14

[Walter-S_North_Carolina]

There is a new report out indicating there are now more then seventeen million UltraViolet account holders.

@ the end of Q4-13 there were reported 15 mil.

That is about 0.5 million new accounts per month, or one every six seconds for the first four months of '14.

[LuzRinggold]

Re: UV + 2 mil. So Far in '14

There is a new report out indicating there are now more then seventeen million UltraViolet account holders.

@ the end of Q4-13 there were reported 15 mil.

That is about 0.5 million new accounts per month, or one every six seconds for the first four months of '14.

The question I have is how many of those accounts were created and then never used again because the process scared the consumer away. UV could boast 50 millions accounts, but it doesn't matter if only 10% are actively using UV.

[Walter-S_North_Carolina]

Re: UV + 2 mil. So Far in '14

The question I have is how many of those accounts were created and then never used again because the process scared the consumer away. UV could boast 50 millions accounts, but it doesn't matter if only 10% are actively using UV.

I believe defining "Actively Using" to be difficult.

After all, how often have you purchased a packaged media copy of a title to watch it once or twice and then relegate it to perpetual shelf storage?

If you are like me, that was common.

In that case, we would not be considered active users in the packaged media market.

UV & Vudu just take the dusty book shelf out of the equation and put it into your TV remote to make it easier to access & also as a way to safeguard your purchase for future use.

[vanton619]

Re: UV + 2 mil. So Far in '14

I believe defining "Actively Using" to be difficult.

After all, how often have you purchased a packaged media copy of a title to watch it once or twice and then relegate it to perpetual shelf storage?

If you are like me, that was common.

In that case, we would not be considered active users in the packaged media market.

UV & Vudu just take the dusty book shelf out of the equation and put it into your TV remote to make it easier to access & also as a way to safeguard your purchase for future use.

While true on a per-title basis, if the packaged media stays on a shelf because you got a new packaged media, you would still be an "active user" of packaged media as a whole. Same thing applies to UV. I don't watch every single UV title I own in a given day, month, hell even year, yet I would certainly consider myself an active user.

Now, I would like to know how many of the new users are continuing to use the UV system for redemptions, purchases and streams, and didn't just create an account to redeem a copy of Catching Fire and never touch it again. Seems kinda clear-cut to me.

[Walter-S_North_Carolina]

Re: UV + 2 mil. So Far in '14

While true on a per-title basis, if the packaged media stays on a shelf because you got a new packaged media, you would still be an "active user" of packaged media as a whole. Same thing applies to UV. I don't watch every single UV title I own in a given day, month, hell even year, yet I would certainly consider myself an active user.

Now, I would like to know how many of the new users are continuing to use the UV system for redemptions, purchases and streams, and didn't just create an account to redeem a copy of Catching Fire and never touch it again. Seems kinda clear-cut to me.

I respectfully disagree.

If a user redeems a copy of Catching Fire to try the novelty of UV streaming and that is the one time they use UV with only trying twenty minutes of the movie on their cell phone before deciding it wasn't for them and never used UV again, then "yes" they could not be quantified as an "active user" by any metric.

However, if a user redeems a copy of Catching Fire to try as a novelty, watches twenty minutes and then parks the whole idea for six months only to later redeem their copy of Noah later this year, at which point they have two titles. Still neither are utilized often until a third and a fourth get added around the `14 holiday season. After that they warm up to the concept of UV.

There are a couple dozen other scenarios I can paint. As such, the active user question is one I personally believe is difficult to quantify.

A one-and-done user is for sure not active, but how long do we have to wait for that to be a quantified metric? One month? Six months? A year?

Regardless, I personally find account numbers to be a poor metric to measure success. I think the daily high water mark of simultaneous streams to be better. That metric has never been published, but I can assure you that it is known. I also believe there is good indication it has steadily been on the rise.

[LuzRinggold]

Re: UV + 2 mil. So Far in '14

Active user would be any account that has been accessed during the past 30 days. All systems know when a user has logged in or accessed their account.

[Walter-S_North_Carolina]

Re: UV + 2 mil. So Far in '14

Active user would be any account that has been accessed during the past 30 days. All systems know when a user has logged in or accessed their account.

Then an active packaged media user is one who has watched or purchased a DVD/BRD in the past 30 days. I am not sure I agree with you on that one.

[LuzRinggold]

Re: UV + 2 mil. So Far in '14

Then an active packaged media user is one who has watched or purchased a DVD/BRD in the past 30 days. I am not sure I agree with you on that one.

You don't have to agree, but my point is that MANY people create a UV account, or attempt to, and then decide that they don't like it and NEVER return to it. Accounts cannot be counted as "active" if the account hasn't been accessed over a period of time. That means they have streamed, downloaded, purchased, rented, browsed, or redeemed a UV code. Any activity that uses the account they created.

iTunes should monitor in much the same way and not report an account as active if it hasn't been accessed over a period of time.

[Walter-S_North_Carolina]

Re: UV + 2 mil. So Far in '14

You don't have to agree, but my point is that MANY people create a UV account, or attempt to, and then decide that they don't like it and NEVER return to it. Accounts cannot be counted as "active" if the account hasn't been accessed over a period of time. That means they have streamed, downloaded, purchased, rented, browsed, or redeemed a UV code. Any activity that uses the account they created.

iTunes should monitor in much the same way and not report an account as active if it hasn't been accessed over a period of time.

Good point.

Napster still can claim tens of millions of accounts, but no one uses it any more. America On-Line is another example.

Kinda like me and packaged media. I can not remember the last time I sat down and watched a movie via plastic disc.

I guess the big difference with UV and America On-Line or Napster is UV is just starting out so the frequency of user activity is much higher then those dead applications.

Still I think a one-and-done user who tried UV and decided it wasn't for them may still become more active when their twitter friend suggest they link up and it translates into a subsequent spark of interest. I think the likelihood of a one-and-done user rubbing elbows with an acquaintance who kindles an interest in UV at some point in the future is gotta be expected as UV continues to pick up acceptance and brand awareness. In that respect, the one-and-done'ers are only temporary in-active. At least, a portion of them are.

[Irondeth]

Re: UV + 2 mil. So Far in '14

I'm one of those new users and I really enjoy ultraviolet. I like that I can use a number of apps to access my movies. Vudu has become my go to choice for the picture quality and the in home disc to digital service. I have talked to a number of friends that are intrigued by the idea of moving their collections to the cloud so don't expect those new account numbers to slow down anytime soon.

[LuzRinggold]

Re: UV + 2 mil. So Far in '14

I'm one of those new users and I really enjoy ultraviolet. I like that I can use a number of apps to access my movies. Vudu has become my go to choice for the picture quality and the in home disc to digital service. I have talked to a number of friends that are intrigued by the idea of moving their collections to the cloud so don't expect those new account numbers to slow down anytime soon.

Did you previously use iTunes or just DVD/Blu-ray? If you used iTunes then can you try to explain what made UV your "go to choice"?

[Irondeth]

Re: UV + 2 mil. So Far in '14

Did you previously use iTunes or just DVD/Blu-ray? If you used iTunes then can you try to explain what made UV your "go to choice"?

I tried itunes years ago and it just seemed to restrictive. I can't access my movies through my ps3, ps4, my android tablet and phone, or my roku on itunes so I was turned off to the whole idea of digital copies at first. When I saw that I could access ultraviolet through pretty much all of my devices I gave digital copies another chance and I'm glad I did.

[MaxH]

Re: UV + 2 mil. So Far in '14

Still I think a one-and-done user who tried UV and decided it wasn't for them may still become more active when their twitter friend suggest they link up and it translates into a subsequent spark of interest. I think the likelihood of a one-and-done user rubbing elbows with an acquaintance who kindles an interest in UV at some point in the future is gotta be expected as UV continues to pick up acceptance and brand awareness. In that respect, the one-and-done'ers are only temporary in-active. At least, a portion of them are.

You're correct that re-entry (reactivating an inactive account) is much easier than creating a new account, but accounts that are inactive for significantly more than 30 days tend to be abandoned. Many users will create a new account at that point...or, if the system notifies users during account creation that email address is already in use and prompts them to recover the password, the original account may be reactivated. It all depends on how the user accounts are managed. I find it somewhat fascinating how proper user account management can decrease abandonment...but then I find lots of odd things fascinating.

[echopulse]

Re: UV + 2 mil. So Far in '14

I've been hoping for some good news. If this keeps up there will be 20 million by late summer. I think that will be quite a milestone, and they will trumpet that when they hit it.

[LuzRinggold]

Re: UV + 2 mil. So Far in '14

I've been hoping for some good news. If this keeps up there will be 20 million by late summer. I think that will be quite a milestone, and they will trumpet that when they hit it.

Again, I don't think that number is a true reflection of how many active and satisfied users there of. I think the number is inflated, just as I think iTunes number is inflated. I created an iTunes account about 4 years ago and after a couple of days, and after their software totally screwed up my laptop, I stopped using it and will NEVER use it again. So that is one iTunes account that is not being used. I am sure there are many accounts not being used and they should not be counted. It's like continuing to count people in the census even after they are dead.

In fact, that type of reporting is somewhat dishonest if the company is a public company. But of course we don't really know how these guys are coming up with these numbers. Perhaps they are filter out accounts that have zero activity over a period of time.