In what could be a huge coup for UltraViolet, Amazon is said to be considering participating in the nascent digital video service.
The Seattle-based e-commerce giant has held talks with studios about a partnership, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
UltraViolet, which gives consumers access to digital copies of movies they have purchased elsewhere, was founded by the studios (with the exception of Disney) to help staunch the decline of DVD purchases, but the service hasn’t taken off, with less than 20 million registered accounts, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Growth was hindered by UltraViolet’s focus on physical sales. The service also requires consumers to download third-party video players, such as Flixster, to watch the films, which makes singing up new users difficult.
But a deal with Amazon has the potential to alter UltraViolet’s course. With its suite of devices, from the Kindle to the Fire TV, and established Instant Video service, Amazon could provide a unified video player through which UltraViolet users could watch their films.
Currently, the service works with movies purchased through online movie services such as Wal-Mart’s Vudu, Target’s Target Ticket and CinemaNow. Amazon forged ties with UltraViolet in 2011 with the acquisition of U.K. online video service Lovefilm, but ended the deal not long after the purchase. Later that year reports surfaced that the studios were courting Amazon in the hopes of bringing it back to the platform.
An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment.
Oct. 9, 7:26 p.m. Updated to include response from Amazon spokeswoman.
