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    Categories: Information technology

Walmart collaborates with MGM to develop new content for Vudu platform

American retail giant Walmart is collaborating with Metro Goldwyn Mayer, a U.S. movie studio, to boost its video-on-demand service Vudu. Walmart had acquired Vudu eight years ago and is looking to offer new content on the platform.
Walmart and MGM would supposedly be making this announcement in Los Angeles at the NewFronts conference. The announcement would also include the name of the first production, which Walmart would license from MGM under the partnership.
Justin Rushing, a spokesman from Walmart was quoted saying that Metro Goldwyn Mayer would create unique content based on the company's extensive library of iconic intellectual property, and such content will exclusively premiere on the Vudu platform under this partnership. He further added that the content would be focused on the family-friendly category which Walmart customers prefer.
Further from the reports, the Arkansas-based company was planning on launching a subscription streaming video service to compete with Netflix and make a sudden move into producing TV shows to attract customers. According to sources though, Walmart is not planning any such move.
The retail company, purportedly, continues to look for options to boost its video-on-demand business and offers programs targeting customers living outside of major cities. Monthly viewership of Vudu still remains well below in comparison with its competitors like Hulu and Netflix.
To safeguard against the declining in-store sales of DVDs, Walmart had bought Vudu in 2010. The U.S. retail chain had bet that viewers would keep on buying and renting movies and shifted their titles to a digital library that Vudu would be creating and maintaining for the customers.
For the record, the video-on-demand service offers 150,000 titles to rent or buy, while its free, ad-supported streaming service, known as Movies On Us, has 5,000 movies and TV shows. For Movies On Us, Walmart is evidently planning on rolling out a new video ad format which would enable viewers to make purchases from Walmart.com. The financial details regarding the deal with MGM were not yet disclosed.
Rahul Varpe:

Rahul Varpe currently writes for Technology Magazine. A communication Engineering graduate by education, Rahul started his journey in as a freelancer writer along with regular jobs. Rahul has a prior experience in writing as well as marketing of services and products online. Apart from being an avid reader, his other hobbies include music and sketching.

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