Walmart will sell its Vudu streaming platform to Comcast’s Fandango, giving up on efforts to be an online-video giant like Amazon.
Walmart acquired Vudu in 2010, trying to adapt to a shift away from DVDs. But the retailer has struggled to turn the service into its own version of Amazon’s Prime Video—despite it being available on millions of TVs and other devices.
Comcast’s acquisition of Vudu marks the third recent takeover of a streaming business by a media giant. Viacom, now part of ViacomCBS, purchased the Pluto TV service for $340 million last year, and Fox Corp. agreed to buy the Tubi platform for $440 million last month.
With Fandango bringing on Vudu, Comcast is doubling down on streaming this month. The owner of NBCUniversal just launched a service called Peacock to some of its pay-TV customers, with the rest of the country getting access in the coming months.
Vudu said the two services will be available separately for now, with customers still able to access their Vudu libraries through Walmart.com and devices such as Roku. “In the months ahead, we will explore ways to bring great online entertainment experiences to our valued customers,” the streaming service said.
