Walmart Upgrades Streaming Netflix Competitor Vudu

Giant retailer Walmart is upgrading Vudu, its streaming-video service that competes with Amazon.com and Netflix, while simultaneously beefing up marketing efforts into the Christmas gift-giving season.

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Vudu said Thursday that movies and TV episodes it sells will now be downloadable, whereas before they resided in the cloud where they were unavailable to consumers who were without an Internet connection even though they owned access to the titles.

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On the marketing front, Walmart is giving $5 Vudu credit when customers buy certain DVD and Blu-ray titles at its bricks-and-mortar stores through Nov. 30, taking advantage of Black Friday, when Christmas shopping shifts into high gear. Some of the titles include Megamind, No Strings Attached, Ghostbusters, Spider-Man and Men in Black.

Vudu rents and sells 40,000 movies and TV episodes. Television episodes for purchase start at $1.99 and movies at $4.99, with more popular film titles running around $15 for standard definition.