As part of the agreement, Vudu Walmarts will continue to Walmart.com Walmart`s digital film and television store. www.wsj.com/articles/nbcuniversals-fandango-to-buy-walmarts-vudu-streaming-service-11587415960 Walmart, which acquired Vudu in 2010 for more than $100 million, said Monday that it signed the deal to sell the service to Fandango. Terms of the agreement, which will be concluded in the coming months, have not been disclosed. Fandango, based in Los Angeles, has signed an agreement to buy Vudu, Walmart`s video-on-demand service, as confirmed Monday by a spokeswoman. The deal comes less than a week after the heavily ad-funded streaming service Peacock was launched by NBCUniversal for Comcast cable and internet customers. “For us, it`s a combination of scale for our on-demand streaming service and Vudu`s talent addition,” said a Fandango spokesperson. “Vudu has a strong brand and customer presence. For now, we are focusing on customer support during this transition, as well as on the FandangoNOW website. Both companies will exist for now,” they noted. Fandango does not currently sell movie tickets because of the coronavirus crisis that has shut down the country`s cinemas. But NBCUniversal`s own company is in the mood to buy what it seems for users to sell more movies online. Vudu, which Walmart says is available on more than 100 million devices in the United States, launched a free, ad-supported service in 2016 that includes thousands of movies and TV shows. Vudus offers free movies such as “March of the Penguins,” “Black Hawk Down” and “Gone in 60 Seconds.” In October 2016, Vudu added a free, ad-supported streaming library to its U.S.
platform with current and classic movies. [20] [21] [1] Meanwhile, Walmart`s initial plans to make Vudu a kind of competitor to the Amazon Primes video service were never really shaken. “We will continue to invest in areas where we have the greatest strength and where we are in the best position to serve our customers today and in the future,” a Walmart spokesperson said in a statement, referring to the sale. “The pickup and delivery are great examples of how we have invested in bringing digital and physical capabilities together, to better serve our customers by offering more choice and comfort. We focus on customer service through this type of omni-retail experience and actively prioritize our investments to maximize our assets and use them in new ways,” they add. In June 2019, Vudus offers more than 24,000 titles in its catalogue and more than 8,000 television shows. [Citation required] Titles range from major films, independent films, documentaries, children`s programs, anime, musicals, recorded musicals, cartoons and television series. Vudu has licensing agreements with all major film studios as well as more than 50 small independent studios. Movies can be rented in standard definition, high-definition and ultra-high-definition 4K formats, dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision and HDR10 are available on supported devices and content. Universal Pictures released “Trolls World Tour” on digital platforms on April 10 and asked customers for $20 to rent the movie DreamWorks Animation.