Fandango Purchased Vudu, Strengthening Position in Digital Retail

• Fandango buys Vudu for an undisclosed sum.
• NBCU is expanding its streaming presence by buying Vudu via Fandango.
• Fandango NOW will continue to run alongside Vudu for a while.

NBCUniversal is snagging Vudu! The move is supposed to help Fandango, its movie ticket seller platform, expand its digital reach.

Walmart previously owned Vudu, and it was bought off for an undisclosed amount. Walmart also spent about $100 million on Vudu back in 2010. The sum of the new purchase will reportedly be made public once the deal is final, which will happen in the next few months.

"Vudu has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Fandango, the ultimate digital network for all things movies & TV," Vudu announced the news to users. The team behind the platform promises that the Vudu experience is not changing as the movie and TV libraries continue to be safe, and people will have access to all Vudu apps.

It is unclear at this point what exactly will happen to FandangoNOW, which is Fandango's digital marketplace, especially since Vudu offers pretty much the same service. Expectations are that the two will merge since there is obviously no need to keep two competing services under one roof. For now, however, things will remain the same.

We do know that this was the perfect time for such a purchase considering the global pandemic and the fact that large movie studios are choosing to release movies for purchase or rent since theaters are closed. Furthermore, since Fandango has ticket selling as its core business - which has obviously tanked - they do need more diversity if they want to survive the crisis.

Acquiring Vudu expands NBCUniversal's digital video business after launching Peacock for Xfinity X1 and Flex subscribers, and ahead of the wider release of the platform in July.