Comcast's Fandango To Buy Walmart's Video-On-Demand Subsidiary Vudu

Comcast Corporation CMCSA subsidiary Fandango has entered into an agreement to acquire video-on-demand service Vudu, the latter said in a statement on Monday.

What Happened

Vudu, a subsidiary of retailer Walmart Inc. WMT, said it will continue to operate as an independent platform even after the acquisition, and its movie and television show library won't see any immediate change.

The two companies didn't disclose the terms of the deal, including the valuation at which Vudu was purchased.

The movie ticketing company Fandango also runs a streaming platform similar to Vudu called FandangoNow. According to Vudu, "there will be no immediate changes to either service."

See Also: Comcast's Peacock Takes Well-Timed Flight

Why It's Important

Both FandangoNow and Vudu trail significantly behind market leaders Netflix Inc. NFLX, Amazon.com Inc.'s AMZN Prime Video and Hulu, in terms of viewership.

The acquisition comes at a time when the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has increased the demand for at-home entertainment services.

Comcast subsidiary NBCUniversal's other video-on-demand service, Peacock, launched in a limited manner last week.

Price Action

Comcast shares closed 2.3% lower in the regular session at $37.21.

Walmart stock closed 1.7% lower at $129.85 per share in the day.