NBCUniversal talks to acquire Vudu from Walmart at an advanced stage

(February 23) NBC Universal is in the advanced stage of talks to purchase Vudu, the video service owned by Walmart. While the talks may not end up in a deal it appears that NBCUniversal part of Comcast has a number of ideas as to how it would develop Vudu. How NBCUniversal might use Vudu The Wall Street Journal which reported on the talks said that Vudu's ad-supported service could serve as a complement to Peacock which is NBCUniversal's upcoming, standalone, streaming service. The digital movie rentals and purchases business would be tied into Fandango the app that you often buy movie tickets through. Fandango also operates FandangoNOW its own streaming service but is not nearly as popular as Vudu among consumers. In October of 20016 Vudu introduced the ad-supported free tier of Vudu. This service now offers a large mix of TV shows and movies that can be streamed on demand without paying a cent. In recent years there has been increased interest in these ad-supported services. Roku for instant has found major success with its Roku channel. Fox has expressed interest in purchasing Tubi another ad-supported streaming platform. Vudu has dabbled in offering its own original programming as Netflix has done successfully but has produced nothing that has resonated with viewers. Vudu well-regarded for its video stream quality Vudu is known not only for its free streaming but home theater enthusiasts also praise the excellent streaming quality. Vudu uses a higher bit rate than some other services. Even before 4k took over streaming, Vudu had concentrated on improving 1080p streaming with an "HDX" rental tier. The company also runs a number of disc-to-digital programs that helps customers to add movies they have on DVD or Blu-ray to their digital collection. For many people using Vudu changes that could be made may not generate much excitement. Vudu could become bloated and will also lose its independent status which it has carved out over the last few years. It may become just another tool in NBCUniversal's streaming wars arsenal. Neither NBCUniversal nor Walmart would comment on the ongoing discussions. Last fall Walmart made it clear that it was looking for a buy for Vudu as reported in a Digital Journal article. Vudu is used on over 100 million devices Walmart claimed at the time.

Previously published in the Digital Journal