If you have been [aying close attention to streaming for the past 10 years you may recall that there was once a device at Walmart that existed solely to provide access to Vudu, the formally Walmart-owned streaming service. It was a box that looked almost like a Roku box. The company stopped selling the Vudu box after Roku added Vudu to its long list of supported services. Walmart later rolled out a Vudu stick that did the same thing which lasted a month or two on the shelves before finally just letting the idea go. In 2020 Vudu was purchased by Fandango, an e-ticketing service for movies that had grown to offer paid on-demand services for movies and TV shows.
The service partnered with Roku giving it prime space on the Roku main menu. Today Fandango announced it is uniting its two popular movie and TV streaming services, Vudu and FandangoNOW. Starting today, the newly updated Vudu will replace FandangoNOW as the official movie and TV store on Roku®, the No. 1 TV streaming platform in the U.S. Vudu uses Roku Pay, a fast and simple way to pay on Roku streaming devices.
The new Vudu service will offer more than 200,000 new releases and catalog movies and TV shows to rent or buy, including the largest collection of 4K UHD titles and thousands of titles to watch for free – all with no subscription required. Top new releases available on Vudu include “F9: The Fast Saga,” Pixar’s “Luca,” “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” “Peter Rabbit 2,” “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard,” “A Quiet Place Part II,” Disney’s “Cruella,” “Godzilla vs. Kong,” “In the Heights” and more. Arriving next Tuesday on Vudu is Marvel Studios’ “Black Widow.”
Vudu, which was acquired by Fandango in 2020, is available in more than 75 million U.S. TV-connected device households, according to The NPD Group*. Vudu has more than 60 million registered users and serves millions of consumers daily across Smart TVs, connected devices, mobile and online.
“At Fandango, we’ve been building a digital network that super-serves tens of millions of fans across the entire entertainment lifecycle, from movie and TV discovery with Rotten Tomatoes, to our three theatrical ticketing apps and now an even larger scale Vudu on-demand streaming destination,” said Fandango President Paul Yanover. “During a time where consumers have a myriad of viewing options, we’re proud to deliver a service that presents an unparalleled library of content, many titles that are not available on subscription services, and the flexibility to pay as you go.”
While Roku still supports multiple other video services having a spot right at the front of the line can not be without its bennifits. Especially as more big screen films become available directly to streaming.
“Consumer excitement for premium video on-demand has grown significantly as users turn to streaming to access the latest movies and TV show releases,” said Tedd Cittadine, Vice President, Content Partnerships, Roku. “We’re thrilled to continue our long-standing partnership with Fandango as we build a future where all TV will be streamed by creating a seamless experience for users to discover and enjoy premium video on-demand releases.”
Vudu delivers multiple 4K Ultra HD audio-visual experiences, including premium formats such as Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision and is available on the industry’s widest selection of platforms and devices such as Samsung, LG and Vizio Smart TVs, the Roku platform, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Xfinity X1 and Xfinity Flex, PlayStation, Xbox, Tivo and more. Other benefits include personalized deals with Mix & Match bundles; family-friendly features like Kids Mode; and everything consumers need to manage their digital collections, such as list-building and easy ways to transfer physical discs to digital.
Starting today, FandangoNOW customers can transfer their accounts and movie and TV collections to Vudu. Access to their libraries will thereafter be provided through Vudu. The Movie Store and TV Store on Roku devices will automatically update from FandangoNOW to the new Vudu.
