AMC launches new video on demand platform to take on iTunes

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in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV
AMC Entertainment is going from the theater to the home with the launch of an iTunes-style video on demand service for renting and buying movies.

AMC Theaters On Demand video on demand platform
AMC Theaters On Demand video on demand platform


On Tuesday, AMC will make AMC Theaters On Demand available to users in the United States, reports The New York Times. With over 2,000 movies for purchase or rent, the theater chain is set to compete with iTunes, Amazon and Google Play, among others.

AMC Theaters On Demand will charge between $3 and $5.99 for rentals and around $9.99 to $19.99 for purchases -- similar to prices offered on other VOD platforms.

As a the world's largest theater chain, AMC stops being able to capitalize on movies once they've left the cinema. AMC Theaters On Demand extends that relationship with the moviegoer and gives the company a strategic marketing advantage.

With over 20 millions households subscribing to its Stubs loyalty program, AMC is able to target customers more directly based on what they see in the theaters. If customers see a movie in person, they may get a notification when the same movie is available for purchase or rent at home.

Somewhat recently, AMC debuted its highly successful Stubs A-List program which allows moviegoers to see up to three movies a week for a flat monthly rate. When making purchases, users will also be able to earn rewards points tied to its Stubs loyalty program.

"Our theater business is mature," said Adam Aron, AMC's president and chief executive. "There is a high-growth opportunity in this digital expansion."

The five largest movie studios have all made deals for hosting previous and upcoming movies on AMC Theaters On Demand, including Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, Sony and Paramount.

"For us, it's all upside. Most of our other big digital partners are focused on multiple categories -- music, books," said Warner Bros. president of worldwide distribution and home entertainment Ron Sanders. "The great thing about AMC is that movies are the whole focus."

AMC is entering the digital space as Apple is focusing more on its new and upcoming Apple TV+ subscription service due to kick off on Nov. 1. Apple will debut several of its own original films in theaters before they hit their own streaming service.

AMC Theaters On Demand will let users watch at home or on the go with iPhone and iPad apps available alongside an Android app, support for Roku, and LG TVs. Apple TV support is not currently listed.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 24
    Yeah.  This makes no sense.    It offers the same movies as that others offer at basically the same price point.  So what’s the use?  If you use Prime, you’ll still use Prime.  If you use iTunes you’ll still use iTunes.  There’s no reason to dump an established service, So why the need for another app that does the same thing? 
    davgregSpamSandwichwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 24
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    "Our theater business is mature,"   ... Or Adam Aron maybe you have an old and obsolete business model?

    https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/amc-theatres-swings-quarterly-loss-cites-industry-wide-softness-1209099
    edited October 2019 cy_starkmanmwhitewatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 24
    Basically, we are back to TV channels. But instead of networks we have streamers. And, we have to pay separately for each one. Soon, someone will come along and be the new “cable,” selling packages of channels/streamers for a single price. The more things change the more they stay the same. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 24
    MacPro said:
    "Our theater business is mature,"   ... Or Adam Aron maybe you have an old and obsolete business model?

    https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/amc-theatres-swings-quarterly-loss-cites-industry-wide-softness-1209099
    while i do not disagree, it is that their business model assumes people go out and socialise.

    unfortunately our cultural model is one of isolationism. where we work, go to a gym with headphones on and then to our own iso-cube (which is a status symbol of being a successful adult) and text to others in our heads and trip out on what we think the reply means.

    their failing business is a symptom of our failing society.

    ... worse, as my wife who is in indiana says, do i want to risk being shot to see a movie. she went to see Joker, there were armed police and patrol cars.

     very inviting.
    davgregwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 24
    This is getting out of control. How many bloody streaming services do we need?
    rotateleftbytesdw2001watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 24
    Another one? Everyone has their fragment of the market now. 

    I’m going to start mine tomorrow. 

    If this was... I don’t know... something with a reason to exist, like offering at home movies that are in the theater, it would be something. But it’s not. 

    Just another iTunes, Amazon, VidiU, PlayStation video, Microsoft video, etc. etc. 

    sheesh. 
    edited October 2019 revenantwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 24
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,152member
    robertsm said:
    Yeah.  This makes no sense.    It offers the same movies as that others offer at basically the same price point.  So what’s the use?  If you use Prime, you’ll still use Prime.  If you use iTunes you’ll still use iTunes.  There’s no reason to dump an established service, So why the need for another app that does the same thing? 
    Because the corporate MBA weenies told the Board this is what they need to do, it’s the latest thing. Everyone else is doing it, marching along to the latest tune, and if we don’t shareholders will ask difficult questions.

    The MBA weenies of course will have moved on to their next job before the time comes to pay the Piper.
    rotateleftbytedavgregwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 24
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    Basically, we are back to TV channels. But instead of networks we have streamers. And, we have to pay separately for each one. Soon, someone will come along and be the new “cable,” selling packages of channels/streamers for a single price. The more things change the more they stay the same. 
    Wrong AMC. 
    fastasleep
  • Reply 9 of 24
    Andrew_OSUAndrew_OSU Posts: 573member, editor
    robertsm said:
    Yeah.  This makes no sense.    It offers the same movies as that others offer at basically the same price point.  So what’s the use?  If you use Prime, you’ll still use Prime.  If you use iTunes you’ll still use iTunes.  There’s no reason to dump an established service, So why the need for another app that does the same thing? 
    I’ll say for me, it makes total sense. I’m a huge movie buff and I do tend to buy quite a few movies for home, especially in 4K and Dolby Vision. If I had an option when buying those movies — even at the same price — but I could earn rewards points for going to the actual movie, I’d be pretty happy. That’s exactly what this is and I’m very excited about that.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 24
    Andrew_OSUAndrew_OSU Posts: 573member, editor

    justmark said:
    This is getting out of control. How many bloody streaming services do we need?
    To be clear, this isn’t another subscription service to subscribe to, just an alternative store to purchase movies. If you go to the movies a lot — specifically AMC theaters — then this is a good option because it has the same prices but there are special bonuses and promotions tied to going to theaters and buying some from home. You even earn rewards points for spending in the theater. I like that very much.
  • Reply 11 of 24
    robertsm said:
    Yeah.  This makes no sense.    It offers the same movies as that others offer at basically the same price point.  So what’s the use?  If you use Prime, you’ll still use Prime.  If you use iTunes you’ll still use iTunes.  There’s no reason to dump an established service, So why the need for another app that does the same thing? 
    I’ll say for me, it makes total sense. I’m a huge movie buff and I do tend to buy quite a few movies for home, especially in 4K and Dolby Vision. If I had an option when buying those movies — even at the same price — but I could earn rewards points for going to the actual movie, I’d be pretty happy. That’s exactly what this is and I’m very excited about that.
    And when they go out of business, which they will, you’ll lose all your purchases? No way I’d do that. 
    d_2watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 24
    But how will they charge me $11 for popcorn at home? I keep hearing they only make money from concession sales.  ;)

    davgregSpamSandwichwatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 24
    The only reason I would ever use this is if for some reason iTunes didn’t have the movie I wanted to buy. This is otherwise the definition of redundant. 
  • Reply 14 of 24
    But how will they charge me $11 for popcorn at home? I keep hearing they only make money from concession sales.  ;)

    that is not far from the truth unfortunately.

    the rights holders for public theatrical release take between 75% and 100% of gross ticket sales.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 24
    drjekel_mrhydedrjekel_mrhyde Posts: 1unconfirmed, member
    robertsm said:
    Yeah.  This makes no sense.    It offers the same movies as that others offer at basically the same price point.  So what’s the use?  If you use Prime, you’ll still use Prime.  If you use iTunes you’ll still use iTunes.  There’s no reason to dump an established service, So why the need for another app that does the same thing? 
    It's not mentioned here, but they let you get a free digital copy if you see it in their theater after the 12 week run. https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/14/20914705/amc-theaters-streaming-video-on-demand-disney-sony-warner-bros-netflix-itunes
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 24
    pigybank said:
    The only reason I would ever use this is if for some reason iTunes didn’t have the movie I wanted to buy. This is otherwise the definition of redundant. 
    I once looked into 3 different movie tities. Each of them was available only on one platform: iTunes, Netflix, Amazon.
    And I also encounter often that the movie is not offered by any of the service providers.
    Or the movie has no original language track which I could chose.

    There is really not a single streaming provider which covers wast movies library and consistenly offers multiple language selection.
    This is only because the licensing is made so difficult. The movie studios shooting themselves.
    Yes, I am willin to pay for a better image quality provided by the services like iTunes. But when the movie not available or not available in the language I need, then I still return to other 'free' streaming services, So the studios and streaming services are not getting the money they could, if they had available what I need.




  • Reply 17 of 24
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    For myself, I have no desire to buy any movie online.   I'll rent them, but not buy them.
    The only reason for me to buy is if I want to watch it multiple times -- and I watch some (including concerts) that are 30 years old (and yes, I still have a VHS player hooked up!).   So, I don't want to have to depend on somebody else's cloud service to hold my movies -- and even storing them on home servers incurs its own issues and problems.

    No, I'll stick with DVDs (and/or VHS and BluRay) for the movies I want to buy.  It's cheap.  It works and its simple.
    davgreg
  • Reply 18 of 24
    robertsm said:
    Yeah.  This makes no sense.    It offers the same movies as that others offer at basically the same price point.  So what’s the use?  If you use Prime, you’ll still use Prime.  If you use iTunes you’ll still use iTunes.  There’s no reason to dump an established service, So why the need for another app that does the same thing? 
    I’ll say for me, it makes total sense. I’m a huge movie buff and I do tend to buy quite a few movies for home, especially in 4K and Dolby Vision. If I had an option when buying those movies — even at the same price — but I could earn rewards points for going to the actual movie, I’d be pretty happy. That’s exactly what this is and I’m very excited about that.
    I can see the appeal of this for people with an AMC theatre nearby, but the decision not to support tvOS at launch makes me wonder if they really know what they’re doing. Even if the iPhone and iPad apps are great and work perfectly with Airplay 2, when we sit down to watch movies at home, it’s on the Apple TVs.
    MacProwatto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 24
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    For myself, I have no desire to buy any movie online.   I'll rent them, but not buy them.
    The only reason for me to buy is if I want to watch it multiple times -- and I watch some (including concerts) that are 30 years old (and yes, I still have a VHS player hooked up!).   So, I don't want to have to depend on somebody else's cloud service to hold my movies -- and even storing them on home servers incurs its own issues and problems.

    No, I'll stick with DVDs (and/or VHS and BluRay) for the movies I want to buy.  It's cheap.  It works and its simple.
    Wow, I haven't even heard let alone seen any of those formats in a decade.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 24
    I always use blu-ray.com and go to the iTunes sales section to look for $4.99 HD movie downloads. If you go there at least once a week throughout the year, you'll end up getting quite a few good deals on back catalog films and TV shows. 4K for $7.99 - $9.99 is getting a bit more common to see as well...Chinatown 4K is $7.99 right now, The Shining 4K is $9.99. 
    edited October 2019 watto_cobra
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