Movie ticketing company Fandango announced on Tuesday that it plans to combine its two streaming services into one mega-platform—a new version of Vudu that’s set to become the official movie and TV store for Roku.
Vudu, which was acquired by Fandango in 2020, was previously a standalone service alongside the company’s flagship streaming product, FandangoNOW. In rolling the two products into one—a new, expanded platform that will also be called Vudu—the brand said in a press release that it would be better positioned to “rapidly innovate and make bolder, faster enhancements to benefit consumers and partners, especially important during an ever-changing media landscape.”
“At Fandango, we’ve been building a digital network that super-serves tens of millions of fans across the entire entertainment lifecycle,” Fandango President Paul Yanover said in a statement. “During a time where consumers have a myriad of viewing options, we’re proud to deliver a service that presents an unparalleled library of content, many titles that are not available on subscription services, and the flexibility to pay as you go.”
With no subscription required to browse, Vudu’s new, expanded library will offer more than 200,000 new release and catalog movies and TV shows to rent or buy, including F9: The Fast Saga, Pixar’s Luca, and A Quiet Place Part II. Replacing FandangoNOW as the official movie and TV store for Roku, the new Vudu app will utilize Roku Pay, Roku’s built-in billing function, to allow consumers to make movie and TV show purchases a la carte.
“Consumer excitement for premium video on-demand has grown significantly as users turn to streaming to access the latest movies and TV show releases,” Tedd Cittadine, Roku’s vice president of content partnerships, said in a press release. “We’re thrilled to continue our long-standing partnership with Fandango as we build a future where all TV will be streamed by creating a seamless experience for users to discover and enjoy premium video on-demand releases.”
Beginning Tuesday, the movies and TV store on all Roku devices will update automatically from FandangoNOW, and FandangoNOW customers will be able to transfer their existing libraries and accounts over to the new Vudu.