Walmart Launches Video Streaming

Posted on by Forest in Deals, General, Movies & Videogames, Opinion

Walmart Launches Video Streaming

VUDU.com

With the recent increase in the price of Netflix people are starting to look around at their other movie rental options so it may well be the perfect time for retail giant Walmart to enter the arena.

Netflix, the most popular rental company, have been slowly pushing more and more towards their streaming service and along with Apple, Amazon and Hulu have been really growing in this area. So what exactly can Walmart add to this already well covered industry?

As always with them, it’s value. The new Walmart service is pretty darn cheap and I think cheaper than all the other services.

Walmart purchased streaming service Vudu.com around 18months ago now and it has been revamped, now offering 20,000 titles available to stream or rent and claiming to be the biggest HD catalog available online. They also claim they get new released DVDs the day they are released and can offer streaming up to 7 years before Netflix, clearly we can see they are going for the gullit and on their site they actually state:

Stream hundreds of new releases years before they’re on Netflix*.
If it’s out on DVD, chances are you can watch it today on VUDU. Don’t pick from a list of last year’s hits or worry about what’s in stock at the video store or kiosk. Get the movie on VUDU without the hassle – you can even watch the first few minutes for free.

Prices  range from $0.99 to $5.99 for rentals and they offer a range of movies for purchase $4.99 to $24.99. Getting a movie to rent for $0.99 puts the service at Redbox pricing except you don’t need to leave the house but I am guessing that is for older titles.

Personally I like the subscription model of Netflix and Hulu so wouldn’t be ready to abandon ship just yet. When in the US I generally mix Netflix streaming with Redbox one off rentals and enjoy it that way. I actually seem to like leaving the house so more and more services looking to stifle that worry me a it although this streaming does look decent.

Walmart’s previous attempts at physical DVD rental ended up being merged into Netflix where it was offered so maybe something similar will happen here!

So, do you think Walmart could tear you away from Netflix or any other streaming services you use? Do you still want physical DVDs or are you happy owning digital copies of movies?

Tags: digital streaming, dvd renatl, movie rental, netflix, vudu