Fandango Will Buy Vudu, Walmart’s Streaming Service

By Todd Spangler, Variety
Published April 20, 2020, 3:03 p.m. ET

NBCUniversal’s Fandango division clinched a pact to buy Vudu, the movie and TV rental and purchase streaming platform, from retailing giant Walmart.

The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. According to a statement on its website, Vudu said it “will continue to deliver an amazing experience; and we promise that the future will bring new exciting features, offerings, and other benefits.”

Vudu also said purchases that customers have made on the platform “will be safe on Vudu. You’ll continue to have access to them as always, across millions of devices.”

Word that NBCU was in talks to buy Vudu emerged earlier this year.

The acquisition of Vudu boosts NBCU’s digital-video presence as it preps the national launch in July of Peacock, a streaming service that will have a hybrid free and paid model. Comcast last week launched an “early preview” of Peacock, available to Xfinity X1 and Flex customers. Meanwhile, in February, Comcast acquired Xumo, the free, ad-supported streaming service owned by Panasonic and Meredith Corp.

According to Walmart, Vudu has an installed base of more than 100 million devices in the U.S.

Vudu says it currently offers over 10,000 titles for free, plus some 150,000 titles to rent or buy including new releases in 4K Ultra HD. The division largely has maintained distinct operations from Walmart. Vudu is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., while the retailer’s Walmart.com and e-commerce teams are based in San Bruno (next to YouTube’s campus). Vudu is headed by EVP and general manager Jeremy Verba, the former CEO of eHarmony who joined the company in 2014.

Walmart, which acquired Vudu in 2010 for a reported $100 million, in 2016 began offering free, ad-supported library content to its service and more recently began delivering original shows on the free platform including a series reboot of ’80s comedy Mr. Mom and live-action kids’ sci-fi movie Adventure Force 5. Other Vudu originals in the works include a travel/comedy show executive produced by Queen Latifah; sci-fi series Albedo starring Evangeline Lilly; and an interview docu-series with Randy Jackson. Vudu ordered sports docuseries Legacy starring and executive produced by retired NBA All-Star Dwayne Wade that follows the progeny of top pro athletes (including Wade’s son, Zaire Wade).

Founded in 2004 as a venture-backed startup, Vudu initially launched with its own set-top box that downloaded movies over the internet for local playback. In its early days, Vudu focused on delivering high-quality digital formats, including its own proprietary “HDX” format.