.svg){kind=logo} | |
| Formerly | Vudu (2005–2024) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Founded | 2004; 21 years ago (2004) |
| Founders | Alain Rossmann Tony Miranz |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Area served | United States |
| Services | Video on demand |
| Parent |
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| Website | Fandango at home |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
Fandango at Home (formerly known asVudu) is an Americandigital video store andstreaming service owned byFandango Media, a joint-venture betweenNBCUniversal andWarner Bros. Discovery. The company offerstransactional video on demandrentals anddigital purchases offilms, as well as integration withdigital locker services for streamingdigital copies of films purchased ashome video at retail.
The service initially focused on adigital media player known as the Vudu Box. In 2010, the company began to abandon its hardware business, and focus on integrating its service and associated app platform into third-party devices such as televisions andBlu-ray Disc players. The company has since offered its services online, viamobile apps, and on devices such as digital media players andsmart TVs.[2]
In 2010, Vudu was sold toWalmart. In 2020, Fandango Media acquired Vudu for an undisclosed amount. While initially maintaining the Vudu name due tobrand recognition, Fandango Media nevertheless rebranded the service under the Fandango brand in 2024.
Vudu was founded by Tony Miranz andAlain Rossmann (the creator of theWireless Application Protocol). The Vudu Box had been secretly in development since 2004, but in April 2007,The New York Times revealed Vudu had signed deals with several movie studios and independent distributors to deliver access to nearly 5,000 films.[3]
As of April 2007[update], Vudu had received $21 million in venture capital funding fromGreylock Partners andBenchmark Capital.[4] The company is based inSanta Clara, California.
In May 2008, Vudu began displaying and selling its set-top box inBest Buy stores. Before this, the box was only available via online retailers.[5] In October, Vudu announced that it would begin to stream films in1080phigh definition, branded as "HDX".[6] These films would feature a series of encoding and processing techniques branded as "TruFilm", including the dampening ofartifacting andpixelation associated with darker areas of pictures,film grain preservation, "color gradient processing" to improve appearance on flat-panel televisions, and "statisticalvariable bitrate" to optimize streaming performance.[6]
On February 24, 2009, Vudu became the first on-demand service to offer high-definition movies for download to own. Prior to Vudu allowing users to purchase high-definition movies, studios only allowed their films to be purchased in standard-definition format.[7]LG was the first to integrate Vudu into itsHDTVs, with access beginning in August 2009 through the television's NetCast application.[8][9]
On January 8, 2010, atConsumer Electronics Show, Vudu announced that it would phase out its in-house hardware business in favor of focusing on integration of itsrich Internet application platform,[10] "Vudu Apps" (which featured Vudu as well as other streaming video and internet services), directly intointernet-connectedtelevisions andBlu-ray players, with initial hardware partners including LG,Magnavox,Mitsubishi,Samsung,Sanyo,Sharp,Toshiba, andVizio.[11][12]
On February 22, 2010,Walmart announced its intent to acquire Vudu. The company had previously attempted to offer digital video sales in 2007, but the service folded due to competition with theiTunes Store.[13] To comply with Walmart's content policies, Vudu subsequently discontinued its "After Dark" service (a collaboration withAVN), which offeredpornographic content.[14]
In 2012, Vudu partnered withUltraViolet, an industry-backeddigital locker offering online streaming of retailDVD andBlu-ray disc purchases.[15] In 2014, Vudu also joinedDisney's competingMovies Anywhere initiative.[16]
In February 2020, it was reported thatComcast (viaNBCUniversal) had entered talks into acquiring Vudu fromWalmart.[17]
In April 2020, it was announced thatNBCUniversal subsidiaryFandango Media would acquire Vudu for an undisclosed amount; the sale closed on July 6, 2020.[18] Fandango is minority owned byWarner Bros., and operated the similar service FandangoNow. As part of the sale, Walmart will maintain its relationships with Vudu, including account integration and promotion of the service via Walmart's website.[19][20]
On August 3, 2021, FandangoNow was merged into Vudu.[21] Fandango chose to retain the "Vudu" name as it was the larger service and had betterbrand recognition. As a result of a prior agreement withRoku, Inc. inherited from Fandango acquisition M-Go, Vudu would also become the official digital media storefront ofRokudigital media players.[22]
In June 2023,AMC Theatres (which has been a long-time partner of Fandango's online movie ticketing service) announced that Vudu would subsume its AMC Theatres On Demand service, with its library being transferred to the platform and upgraded to higher quality formats where applicable. Users would be able to migrate to Vudu through August 31, 2023.[23]
On February 16, 2024, it was announced that the service would be rebranded as "Fandango at Home" to unify it with its parent company.[24] This took effect March 12, 2024.[25]
As of June 2019, Vudu's selection contains over 24,000 titles in their catalog and over 8,000 television shows.[citation needed] Titles range from major motion pictures, independent films, documentaries, children's programming, anime, musicals, recorded musical performances, cartoons, and television series. Vudu has established content licensing contracts with all major movie studios as well as over 50 smaller and independent studios. Films are available to rent in standard-definition, high-definition, and4Kultra high definition formats, withDolby Atmos,Dolby Vision, andHDR10 available on supported devices and content.
In October 2016, Vudu added a free, ad-supported streaming library to its platform in the United States branded as "Movies on Us", featuring recent and classic films.[26][27][2]
In October 2018, Vudu partnered withMGM Television to develop and acquire original programming for Movies on Us, with a focus on "family-friendly, advertiser-friendly content" derived from existing MGM properties.[26] Vudu premiered its first original series,Mr. Mom—a continuation of the1983 film of the same name, on September 12, 2019.[28]
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