So, accepting that streaming platforms are highly unlikely to contain a specific movie that an audience member wishes to watch, what other avenues are available? More than that, if a person wishes to own a digital copy of a film, and stream it to a television, how exactly would they do that?
There are various options available to Irish audiences, various service providers that are willing to sell digital copies of particular films. Until recently, UltraViolet was the standard bearer for digital copies of physical media. If a user purchased a blu ray disc with a "digital copy", it was quite likely that they would be able to redeem it through UltraViolet. However, Ultraviolet was not a service provider of itself, so Irish users have to go through the additional step of using Flixster. The app has been largely discontinued as a digital storefront, which makes its use awkward and uncomfortable.
However, assuming that the user wishes to buy rather than merely redeem a digital copy, the best bets may be either Amazon, Google or iTunes. However, their libraries in Ireland are disappointing. To pick a recent example, The Handmaiden was available through the United Kingdom version of Amazon, but rendered inaccessible to Irish users who would have been using the British version of Amazon as their portal. There are large gaps in these libraries, particularly when it comes to relatively well-known movies. For another project, I had need to watch the infamous FIFA propaganda project United Passions, a film with wide international release starring Sam Neill, Tim Roth and Gerard Depardieu. It was not available on any of these platforms.
However, even accepting that popular modern movies may be found on one or all of these platforms, there is still the issue of commitment and integration. iTunes and Amazon are proprietary platforms that are tied to companies attempting to fashion their own multimedia empires. As such, they are often locked and restricted to particular technological eco-system. So a movie purchased on iTunes can only be watched in iTunes or on AppleTV, while Amazon requires either a television app or a FireStick.
To be fair, Google Chrome is accepted by a variety of platforms, such as its own system, YouTube and the aforementioned Netflix and Flixster. However, it is pointedly excluded by iTunes and Amazon. As a result, a choice of platform for a digital copy can represent a much large technological commitment. It is dizzying and disorienting, certainly a lot more complicated than watching the movie that the user wants with the click of a button.
Again, American users have something of an advantage here. Disney have developed a platform that is designed to ease the experience. Movies Anywhere offers users a chance to synchronise their libraries across iTunes, Google, Amazon, and the American provider VUDU. In theory, buying a movie on any one of those platforms will add it to a user's library on all of the others. It is a good idea, one long overdue, and gets around issues of technological commitment.
30 CinÉireann / June 2018