Earlier reports had suggested that Walmart was interested in launching a streaming service of its own. The service would have taken on the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime which are already established players in this market. However, a new report claims that Walmart now deems this to be a risky play and has decided against it.
CNBC hears from sources who claim that Walmart had considered launching a streaming service of its own but has decided not to go through with the plan. It feels that investing billions into original content for a streaming service will be a risky move. It would also face tough competition from established players like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu.
Instead of fighting it out with them, Walmart will reportedly be focusing more on Vudu, the service it acquired in 2010. Vudu is doing relatively well by selling pay-per-view content but hasn’t really dived into creating original content. “Vudu has developed a strong platform, and we aim to continue to bring our customers more content, on more devices, at the best possible price,” said a spokeswoman for Walmart.
Mark Greenberg, the media executive who was in discussions with Walmart to launch its streaming service, is now said to be in talks with another retailer for a similar service. Costco has held talks with him but the scribe mentions that no agreement has been reached as yet.
Filed in . Read more about Entertainment and Walmart. Source: cnbc