Vudu-Fandango Merger: New Streaming Service With Over 200,000 Titles
The merger of streaming platforms Vudu and FandangoNOW will create a bigger and better entertainment experience with over 200,000 titles.
Aug. 5 2021, Published 8:19 a.m. ET
The merger of streaming platforms Vudu and FandangoNOW will create a bigger and better entertainment experience. Here's what viewers and investors can expect after the merger.
Movie and online-ticket company Fandango announced Aug. 3 that it will merge the Vudu on-demand streaming service, which it has owned since 2020, with its existing FandangoNOW streaming service.
Under the Vudu name, the combined service will replace FandangoNOW as the company’s movie and TV store on the Roku streaming platform. The new and improved Vudu will offer more than 200,000 new releases, catalog titles, and TV shows to rent or buy and thousands of titles to watch for free. No subscriptions are required to stream the content. Instead, users can rent or purchase the movies or TV shows through Roku Pay.
Bringing the two streaming services together enables Fandango to deliver entertainment wherever consumers want them—in theaters, at home, or on the go.
“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,” said Fandango President Paul Yanover in a company statement.
What is Vudu?
Founded in 2007, Vudu originally offered movies through a digital media player called the Vudu Box. After Vudu switched to more of a streaming service in 2010, it was bought by Walmart. However, the retail giant didn’t do much to expand the service and, in 2020, Vudu was sold to Fandango, a division of NBCUniversal.
Currently, Vudu has more than 60 million registered users and serves millions of consumers daily across Smart TVs, connected devices, mobile devices, and online. According to market research firm The NPD Group, Vudu is available in more than 75 million TV-connected device households in the U.S.
Vudu delivers multiple 4K Ultra HD audio-visual experiences including premium Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision formats. The streaming service is available on Roku and other platforms and devices including Samsung, LG and Vizio Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Xfinity X1 and Xfinity Flex, PlayStation, Xbox, TiVo, and more.
Who owns Fandango?
Fandango is a division of NBCUniversal. Largely known as a site to purchase movie tickets, the Fandango portfolio includes MovieTickets.com, Flixster, movie review site Rotten Tomatoes, and Movieclips—a movie trailer and movie-related content channel on YouTube.
"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 Yanover.
What can you watch on Vudu?
Immediately after announcing the merger, FandangoNOW customers could transfer their accounts and movie and TV collections to Vudu. The streaming service features newly released movies like A Quiet Place Part II, Disney's Cruella, Godzilla vs. Kong, In the Heights, F9: The Fast Saga, Pixar's Luca, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Peter Rabbit 2, and The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard.
Marvel Studios’ Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson, will be available on Vudu next week.