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Walmart To Sell Tickets To ‘Man Of Steel’ Advance Screening In Rare Studio-Retailer Deal

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday April 24, 2013 @ 8:40am PDTTags: Man of Steel, Walmart, Warner Bros

BENTONVILLE, AR, and BURBANK, CA – April 24, 2013 – Walmart announced today that it has partnered with Warner Bros. to give its customers exclusive access to see Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ “Man of Steel” in theaters nationwide before the film’s official release. This program marks the first time in entertainment history that a studio has partnered with a retailer to provide such an opportunity for fans. Tickets for the exclusive screening of “Man of Steel,” will go on sale in more than 3,700 Walmart stores starting at 8 a.m. on May 18. Customers will be able to purchase up to four tickets per visit, and have the option to choose between 2D or 3D showings, where applicable. The advance screening will take place in selected local theaters nationwide at 7 p.m. on June 13. In addition to being the first among their friends to see “Man of Steel,” Walmart customers can also take advantage of the following offers: READ MORE »

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DreamWorks Animation Joins Walmart’s Disc-To-Digital Service

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday April 16, 2012 @ 8:44pm PDTTags: DreamWorks Animation, VUDU, Walmart

DreamWorks Animation titles were added to Walmart’s disc-to-digital Vudu service that launched today at more than 3,500 stores. Vudu bridges the hard goods DVD/Blu-Ray business with the newer digital download efforts. Walmart customers can now … Read More »

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WalMart Launches Exclusive Disc-To-Digital Service To Support Vudu

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday March 13, 2012 @ 10:55am PDTTags: UltraViolet, VUDU, Walmart

UltraViolet’s had a rocky start. Consumers have struggled to figure out what it is and how it works — and the studios backing the industry initiative have hungered to have a big retailer help walk people through the process. That’s what makes the new alliance with WalMart interesting. Starting on April 16 consumers will be able to take their home videos to some 3,500 WalMart stores and have them converted to digital files stored in the retailer’s Vudu digital storage facilities for Internet streaming. It will cost $2 to transfer a DVD or a Blu-ray disc, and $5 to have a DVD upgraded to a high-definition file. Users must open a free account with WalMart’s Vudu, and go to its site to access digital files. “It will encourage customers to continue buying physical DVDs,” says John Aden, WalMart’s EVP General Merchandise. WalMart has the exclusive right to convert discs to digital in stores. (Samsung has announced a Blu-ray player that will transfer discs to digital for UltraViolet.) The company also plans a “multimonth educational campaign” both in and out of its stores to help people figure out what to do with their discs and how to access movies on mobile and other digital devices. New releases that are UltraViolet enabled already provide buyers with the opportunity to stream a digital file. Read More »

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Redbox Renews DVD Kiosk Agreement With Walmart To 2015

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday January 31, 2012 @ 5:47am PSTTags: Coinstar, Redbox, Walmart, Warner Bros

Redbox Vows To Acquire Warner Bros DVDs “Through Alternative Means”

This is important for Redbox as its disc kiosks begin to dominate the DVD rental business. Much of Redbox’s clout comes from its growing presence in Walmart stores: The … Read More »

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Dolby Launches 7.1 Audio For Streaming

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday October 18, 2011 @ 1:15pm PDTTags: Disney, Dolby, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, VUDU, Walmart

San Francisco, October 18, 2011—Dolby Laboratories, Inc., (NYSE: DLB) today enabled the first discrete 7.1-channel surround sound entertainment experience available to streaming media using Dolby® Digital Plus audio. VUDU, a leading subscription-free, video-on-demand movie service and wholly owned subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., began streaming Walt Disney Pictures’ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 audio today.

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Dish Network Delivers A Blockbuster Disappointment

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday September 23, 2011 @ 12:34pm PDTTags: Amazon, Apple, Blockbuster, Blockbuster Dish Network, Dish Network, Google, Netflix, Walmart

Dish Unveils Blockbuster Movie Pass

What a letdown. Dish Network does the dance of the seven veils as it hints that it will take on Netflix, and the big news today is that it will re-brand Blockbuster’s existing streaming and mail-order DVD rental service — and offer it to Dish Network customers willing to pay an extra $10 a month? There’s no way around it: With Blockbuster Movie Pass, Dish just blew a golden opportunity to seize the momentum from Netflix, which is still reeling from the consumer backlash to its 60% price hike for subscribers who want to continue to stream movies and rent DVDs by mail. Blockbuster Movie Pass can stream 3,000 movies to TV sets, and 4,000 to PCs; that’s 25% or less of what Netflix offers. Read More »

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Big Media’s 2Q Earnings Roundup: Will The Economy Change The Story?

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday August 11, 2011 @ 4:07pm PDTTags: Amazon, Apple, Big Media, Big Media Earnings, David Zaslav, Discovery Communications, Dish Network, DreamWorks Animation, Hulu, Jeff Katzenberg, Les Moonves, Netflix, Philippe Dauman, RealD Earnings, Regal CEO Amy Miles, Regal Entertainment, Steve Burke, Time Warner, Viacom, Walmart

Now that Big Media’s 2Q earnings season is over, the big question on Wall Street is: Did it give us any insight into the future? CEOs’ cheery talk about strong ad sales in TV’s upfront market, the expected bump next year from political ads, and the revenues coming in from online streaming services may be irrelevant if the economy sinks into a deep, new recession.  CEOs say they see no evidence of trouble yet. The industry’s leading cheerleader, CBS chief Les Moonves, channeled his inner Buzz Lightyear last week saying that he has “every reason to believe that we will deliver strong results throughout the rest of the year, into 2012 and beyond.” Investors still sliced 6.3% off of CBS’ market value. The Dow Jones U.S. Media Index is down about 16% in the last month as traders anticipate cuts in ad spending, ticket buying, subscriptions — the works. If the pessimists are right, then the race is on: Which company will be the first to change its message from “people will buy media because they have cash” to “people will buy media because it helps them to forget their problems”?

Here are other themes from the latest earnings reports:

Jobs: Media companies still aren’t hiring. No one said that so baldly, but it’s there between the lines: CEOs talked more about financial engineering – cutting costs and returning cash to shareholders – than about spending to become more competitive. Time Warner recorded $24M in layoff-related expenses, quadruple the amount from the same quarter last year, while Viacom spent $14M, up from zero last year. Yet virtually every media company is repurchasing shares or increasing its dividend. The message? CEOs can’t persuade investors that the companies know how to make a decent profit from their cash, and shareholders want it back.

Pay TV: This was “the weakest (quarter) in the industry’s history,” says Bernstein Research’s Craig Moffett. Analysts were startled to see the largest cable, satellite, and telco companies collectively lose about 195,000 video customers. The cord cutters don’t fit the stereotype of well-to-do technophiles. Moffett says that “all the evidence” shows that a growing number of people – especially young adults — simply can’t afford pay TV. Dish Network seemed to confirm that thesis by saying that it will shift its marketing focus to upscale consumers instead of bargain hunters. With the U.S. market stalled, it’s easy to see why cable programmers want investors to look at their expansion efforts in growing markets overseas such as India, Russia, China, and Brazil. “It is the current momentum and potential of our international assets that present a meaningful, unique opportunity for us,” Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav told analysts. Read More »

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Will VUDU’s iPad Gateway Help Walmart To Outflank iTunes?

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday August 9, 2011 @ 9:05pm PDTTags: Apple, iTunes, VUDU, Walmart

Walmart is about to fire a warning shot at Apple’s iTunes: The retail colossus will introduce on Wednesday a way for iPad users to access VUDU’s Web site to buy or rent videos and view them on the tablet. ”We’re … Read More »

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Will Walmart Become A Streaming Superpower? Retailer Moves Forward By Adding VUDU To Main Website

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday July 26, 2011 @ 4:50am PDTTags: Online Content Movie TV, Streaming Film and TV, VUDU, Walmart

Keep an eye on the retail colossus as the online streaming business takes shape. Walmart wants to be a player, and VUDU — the service it bought in March 2010 — provides a strong foundation. VUDU has more than 20,000 movie titles that consumers can buy online or rent for $2 for two nights. The news this morning is that the company is integrating VUDU into the popular Walmart.com website. But you can be sure that Walmart has bigger plans. Here’s the release:

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and BRISBANE, Calif., July 26, 2011 – Demonstrating its commitment to e-commerce and goal of offering customers “one continuous shopping” channel, Walmart today announced the integration of its popular movie streaming service, VUDU, on Walmart.com. Customers can now shop for thousands of digital VUDU titles, including the hottest new releases, and purchase and/or rent them directly on Walmart.com at www.walmart.com/vudu.

As customers shop for movies at Walmart.com, they now have the option to select the digital VUDU title and/or the physical title (DVD or Blu-ray Disc). Those who select the digital title complete their transaction through Walmart.com’s checkout, and then can easily stream the movie directly from Walmart.com, VUDU.com, or from one of more than 300 VUDU-enabled devices, including select HDTVs, Blu-ray Disc players and the PlayStation®3.

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Universal Promotes ‘Hop’ Through Walmart, Lionsgate Taps Groupon To Sell ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday March 16, 2011 @ 8:08am PDTTags: Groupon, Hop, The Lincoln Lawyer, Universal, Walmart
Mike Fleming

Studios are getting more and more enterprising in promoting their films, online and on store shelves. Universal Pictures launched a retail program with Walmart tied to the Illumination Entertainment film Hop that will include Hop-themed Easter baskets and other holiday … Read More »

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