AccuStats Netflix Style Streaming Service - Groundbreaking

I don't mean to be "that guy", but this is basically a last-ditch effort to squeeze money out of a media library that has been decimated by piracy.

For that reason, it will last a few years, and then be gone. Or, it will still be there, but fewer and fewer people using it until the income is less than the hosting costs..

Given the slow death that pool in America is facing, and the fact that Accu-Stats mostly caters to American pool fans, I am expecting that Accu-Stats days are numbered. It might be a REAL good time for Accu-Stats to start looking into what it would cost to pay for commentary in different languages, so they could sell the videos to non-English speakers..

For that matter, given the seemingly total lack of interest in the Derby City Classic forum on here, with it being a few short days away, I am wondering how much longer that tournament will last. It seems that the hotel fills up quick every year, and the tournament fields are certainly consistently large, so maybe this is much ado about nothing.

Short Bus Russ

Cardigan Kid said:

I think this is groundbreaking for our sport.
A netflix for pool.

Haven't seen that much discussion surrounding the topic though....

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=466638



Is anyone subscribing to this?
With the vault that accustats has under it's wing, the possibilities are endless.

I also wanted to make a commitment to watching more pool matches this year, and with this subscription, it will be like a gym membership...you paid for it so you better use it and get your money's worth. :thumbup:

To Oldzilla, will the library eventually be expanded to include past Derby matches/Bigfoot matches? Or is it just new tournaments going forward?

I'm firing up my subscription tonight and we will see how it goes.

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I have an account. Good quality Vimeo stream, no problems at all. I try to support Accu-Stats whenever I can.

Cardigan Kid said:

This is certainly a valid post by you, sir.
I think overall, it's a convenience issue for me.
I have a pretty good sized shelf filled with accustats dvds and I revisit them every how and then, but I have to be in front of a tv with a dvd player and in my life that is extremely rare these days with work, family, pool paying stuff, etc.

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You know it's pretty easy to convert your personally-owned DVDs to mpeg4 format so you can watch them wherever you want, right?

A program named "Handbrake" is all you need. Just takes some time.. I was actually thinking maybe I should pick up a cheap multi-tray DVD burner to make the process go much faster.. I have made a sizeable dent in my own collection and gotten a good bit of them into mpeg format.

And to that extent... It would be an additional revenue stream for Accu-Stats to offer digital versions of previously purchased videos to current customers for an appropriate fee... Before they find the digital copy of what they already own...elsewhere.

But... That's just the businessman in me speaking.

Short Bus Russ

The major problem facing a company like Accu-Stats is far more likely to be low demand rather than piracy. YouTube/Facebook live streams of top pros get viewership in the hundreds or even dozens, emblematic of the small market for televised pool, and YouTube is quite responsive to takedown requests when copyrighted tournaments are uploaded. I have noticed quite a few times that Accu-Stats successfully had something taken down from YouTube that I was about to watch.

Let's get real - it's not like Accu-Stats videos of Shane Van Boening are being passed around on burned DVDs in Wal-Mart parking lots or traded on torrent sites.

A streaming model will allow them to monetize old matches and tournaments that no one will ever buy.

Its Great!

I have it and I have matches playing all day in the background while I'm working. The quality is better then anything else out there and its cheap!

What does that say?

Someone sent me a digital flyer for the Music City Event starting this week and on the bottom it said it was going to be played on 7ft tables. This is a big event.
What's that say?

ShortBusRuss said:

I don't mean to be "that guy", but this is basically a last-ditch effort to squeeze money out of a media library that has been decimated by piracy.

For that reason, it will last a few years, and then be gone. Or, it will still be there, but fewer and fewer people using it until the income is less than the hosting costs..

Given the slow death that pool in America is facing, and the fact that Accu-Stats mostly caters to American pool fans, I am expecting that Accu-Stats days are numbered. It might be a REAL good time for Accu-Stats to start looking into what it would cost to pay for commentary in different languages, so they could sell the videos to non-English speakers..

For that matter, given the seemingly total lack of interest in the Derby City Classic forum on here, with it being a few short days away, I am wondering how much longer that tournament will last. It seems that the hotel fills up quick every year, and the tournament fields are certainly consistently large, so maybe this is much ado about nothing.

Short Bus Russ

Click to expand...

Cardigan Kid said:

I think this is groundbreaking for our sport.
A netflix for pool.

Haven't seen that much discussion surrounding the topic though....

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=466638



Is anyone subscribing to this?
With the vault that accustats has under it's wing, the possibilities are endless.

I also wanted to make a commitment to watching more pool matches this year, and with this subscription, it will be like a gym membership...you paid for it so you better use it and get your money's worth. :thumbup:

To Oldzilla, will the library eventually be expanded to include past Derby matches/Bigfoot matches? Or is it just new tournaments going forward?

I'm firing up my subscription tonight and we will see how it goes.

Click to expand...

I spoke with them briefly at the US Open. It is nice to see them moving forward with the times but I am also disappointed that they are ceasing new DVD sales.

They mentioned that piracy is the big issue because people are just copying the DVDs, however moving to an all digital format they are just going to make it a bit easier. There are all types of free and cheap screen capture software out there to record what is on-screen with ease. I mentioned this to them at the booth, not so much to deter them, but more just to give them a heads up. I wouldn't expect them to change the future of their business based on just one person still wanting physical copies. They mentioned that they would find some of their matches on YouTube and other sites like that. I agree that it is shitty, but now they are just taking a big step out of the piracy process. No longer do you need that physical copy to rip and then encode. You can simply rent the match you want (at a considerably cheaper price then what the DVD was). Capture the video and do what you want from there.

I liked the Vimeo format TAR went with where you can purchase the match and have the option to download it for offline viewing or watch it via Vimeo online over the course of a year. Personally, I like to own the things that I pay for. Sure I can have a digital copy online somewhere, but I would prefer to have a hard copy so I'm not limited to an online device for viewing. This definitely isn't a piracy deterrent of course, just was my own personal preference.

Every year at the Open I always looked forward to pre-ordering 4 or 5 matches from the event. The DVDs were usually edited and created in a couple months and they would normally arrive right about now. I would usually buy some of the previous DCC matches at the Expo each year as well. Sure, they are cutting out a massive chunk of the production process there and that is great, but also my Accu-Stats DVD library is no longer going to expand.

Video entertainment will ALWAYS be susceptible to piracy, regardless of the delivery device. While moving away from hard copies on DVD and going all digital is the future, it is definitely not deterring the pirates, it is only going to make it easier for them.

Still not sure if I'm gong to subscribe though. The library right now is decent but IMO not worth a price per month that is more then what I pay for Netflix.

I was thinking about doing this. But I would have like to have seen their price a little lower. I know everyone needs to make money. I would gladly pay 7.99 or 8.99 a month.

Vimeo is a great On-Demand platform, and they treat content-owners much better (with lower fees) than YouTube's Purchase program (which is expected to be discontinued anyway). I have recently put all of my instructional DVDs on Vimeo.

I think Accustats has made a wise decision to offer all of their content via Vimeo On Demand.

Regards,
Dave

Coop1701 said:

I was thinking about doing this. But I would have like to have seen their price a little lower. I know everyone needs to make money. I would gladly pay 7.99 or 8.99 a month.

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Considering the PPV for those events was about $60+ for the full event and the DVD/Tapes were 10-20 each, plus considering we all talk about buying chalk and tips that cost more, drinks that cost that much a glass, $15 a month is nothing.

I am hoping they upload the older videos as well, but I think this was money well spent when I subscribed.

ShortBusRuss said:

For that matter, given the seemingly total lack of interest in the Derby City Classic forum on here, with it being a few short days away, I am wondering how much longer that tournament will last. It seems that the hotel fills up quick every year, and the tournament fields are certainly consistently large, so maybe this is much ado about nothing.

Short Bus Russ

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The AZ forums never really have a ton of buzz or chat around DCC. I would say the action room gets the most talk. I don't think this is any indication of the popularity of the event. As you mentioned, the fields are always huge and the crowds are there. I am counting down the days and there is so much going on there, I just completely forget about these forums for a week. Only about 5% of what is going on at the derby is ever mentioned on this forum.

Ian

hang-the-9 said:

Considering the PPV for those events was about $60+ for the full event and the DVD/Tapes were 10-20 each, plus considering we all talk about buying chalk and tips that cost more, drinks that cost that much a glass, $15 a month is nothing.

I am hoping they upload the older videos as well, but I think this was money well spent when I subscribed.

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I see your point.. and I am willing to pay it. I was just thinking with all the Free stuff out there. 8.99 would be easier to swallow.

Coop1701 said:

I see your point.. and I am willing to pay it. I was just thinking with all the Free stuff out there. 8.99 would be easier to swallow.

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I agree. Accu-Stats does put out an excellent product, but there are a bunch of YouTube channels out there that also put out some very very good content. Channels like GeniPool, POVPOOL, Fast Lenny and some others. Good content and original content.

While these channels do not cover the TV table of the majors like Accu-Stats does, the do cover some of the non-TV tables and some events that normally would not have any video coverage. Not amateur stuff, either. Pro events with Pros playing it out. Really enjoyed all the West Coast Swing matches that POV has uploaded in the last couple months.

As much as I like their current offerings... I'm way more interested in the "vintage" stuff. I really hope they expand their library quickly.

I think they should find a way to incorporate their live broadcasting with the library and sell that as a subscription. I would gladly pay to have access to everything not just a few events.