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Sky Movies boss: UltraViolet is 4.5 minutes too complicated for consumers

Disc-to-digital service UltraViolet is still too complicated to sell to consumers in a 30-second pitch, according to Sky Movies.

Ultraviolet is supported by the majority of Hollywood film studios, and enables consumers to own digital copies of their Blu-rays and DVDs to watch on phones and tablets.

But Ian Lewis, director of Sky Movies and Sky Box Office, said the studios and their technology partners have yet to make Ultraviolet good enough for mass take-up.

Sky Movies boss: Ultraviolet is 4.5 minutes too complicated for consumers
Ultraviolet is too complicated for Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch

Read more about Ultraviolet“I know from the discussions that I’ve had with my chief executive, it takes me about four or five minutes to explain it to him, and frankly if it takes me four or five minutes to explain to my CEO, it’s not ready to take to the market yet and explain to customers – because you generally have four and a half minutes less than that five minutes,” Lewis added.

Digital TV Europe adds that Lewis told the PEVE Entertainment conference that Sky has no plans to offer Ultraviolet to its customers.

Ultraviolet includes most of the Hollywood studios and many other TV and film producers, as well as numerous technology partners, but lacks crucial names including Disney-ABC and its subsidiaries, Pixar and Lucasfilm.

“I think it’s great that the industry is trying to find a single format that we can engage the whole population on and make it really simple for them, but now I’m not sure that even all the Hollywood studios are lined up on exactly what they think Ultraviolet is.”

“When you actually try and explain to customers today what Ultraviolet is, it’s quite complicated and not every film that they will buy is available through that route. There is certainly going to be a fear amongst many customers that they don’t know if it will work here or there, they don’t know if this film will be compatible with that film.”

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