Earlier this year, there was a report that Walmart was planning to launch a Netflix or Amazon Prime Video competitor. Today, CNBC reports that the company has abandoned plans for the service and will instead focus on their pay-per-view digital business Vudu.
The report shares that plans for the service ended after talks ended with former Epix CEO, Mark Greenberg. The executive had been discussing with Walmart launching a Netflix competitor focused on Middle America. Walmart could never get comfortable with the $10B+ content investment required to compete.
The company has decided to focus on Vudu which is the third largest pay-per-view digital video business, behind Apple and Amazon. While Vudu has some original content on the horizon, they are expected to pursue a larger library of movies and shows.
Vudu may focus on their ad-supported business where they allow customers to view movies for free with ads, rather than purchasing or renting them. The division is overseen by Marc Lore, Walmart’s head of e-commerce.