WalMart Looking To Enter Movies On Demand Market
Not content with being the biggest retailer on Earth, WalMart is trying to muscle in on the internet movies and tv show rental. The megastore have already attempted to compete with Netflix in the DVD by mail market but backed off.
Previous attempts in 2005 to gain ground in the DVD-by-mail business was unsuccesful, then in 2007 backed by some big studios and tech help from Hewlett-Packard, the retailer tried to launch a download service. Again it was abandoned a few months later. They certainly are tryers though.
Watch Movies At Walmart
It has been rumored that online video start-up Vudu could be in acquisition discussions, and industry executives believe WalMart is probably the buyer. Vudu are not commenting, but the deal is in theory a good one.
Vudu allows users to rent or buy movies on the internet, but they are in need of a good distribution channel, in comes Wal-Mart who want in on the market and must have learnt from previous mistakes
Vudu is also said to be looking for a buyer in the shape of either a big-box retailer or an electronics manufacturer–for some time without success. Internet executive Mark Jung ran the company for a year but left in November 2008; founder Alain Rossmann became interim CEO when Jung left and has been in charge since.They have raised $21 million from Benchmark Capital and Greylock Partners and is pitching for a sale price of $50 million or more. But it may not have much leverage to command a premium.
Vudu started out by marketing an Internet connected set-top box that connected to users tv sets, but the service was not a great success. It is now focused on building that technology directly into TVs and Blu-ray players and marketing itself as a Netflix-like service.
Latest TV searches:
walmart movies on demandRelated News:
- DivX TV Enter The Internet TV Market
- Blockbuster movies on demand coming to TiVo
- Watch Classic Movies Online With Worldtvpc Movies Section For Free!
- Blockbuster on demand set top box is Free
- Movies to go in 20 seconds
[...] website that charges per download/view of top movies and TV shows via the web, was previously rumoured to be heading to Walmart. The deal is expected to close within the next few [...]