Fandango United
Fandango is uniting its two popular video services, Vudu and FandangoNOW, creating a mega on-demand entertainment platform on Vudu. The newly-updated Vudu replaces FandangoNOW as the official movie and TV store on Roku. The new Vudu service will offer more than 200,000 movies and TV shows to rent or buy, including the largest collection of 4K UHD titles and thousands of titles to watch for free – all with no subscription required. Top new releases include “F9: The Fast Saga,” Pixar’s “Luca,” “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” “Peter Rabbit 2,” “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard,” “A Quiet Place Part II,” Disney’s “Cruella,” “Godzilla vs. Kong,” “In the Heights” and more. Arriving next Tuesday on Vudu is Marvel Studios’ “Black Widow.”
The NPD Take:
- The combined assets of their Fandango movie ticketing business and scaled up digital store front allows the company more opportunities to tie together the theatrical and at home experiences (e.g. offers to watch again at home with the purchase of a movie ticket). And there has never been a time better than now to have both assets.
- It remains to be seen how NBCUniversal’s broader set of free streaming video services integrate. As of now they control quite a few largely disparate offerings from Fandango-managed Vudu to NBC-owned Xumo and Peacock.
Jungle Cruises to Success on Disney Plus
Disney’s Jungle Cruise debuted in theaters and as a Disney Plus Premier Access title. Streaming totals over the weekend accounted for one-third of the film’s revenues. While Black Widow earned $60 million in early July over the same period (or 27 percent of its $218.8 million total), Jungle Cruise earned $30 million (or 33 percent of its $91.8 million total). Premier Access was also an option for 2020’s Mulan, March’s Raya and the Last Dragon, and May’s Cruella, but Disney hasn’t shared figures for those movies. It’s unclear if Disney will debut future movies on Disney Plus Premier Access. The Premier Access program lets Disney Plus subscribers pay $30 to stream certain films the same day they hit theaters.
The NPD Take:
- Can you put the genie back in the bottle? Maybe the question is, to what extent? Traditional exclusive theatrical windows are unlikely to ever return for all films.
- Hybrid release strategies fit the crossroads that we are currently living in. Future strategies will reflect both customer wants and financial necessities as such they remain a bit elusive.
Paramount+ & Showtime Combine for 42 Million Subs
ViacomCBS reported Paramount+ and Showtime OTT subscriptions ended Q2 with a combined 42 million subscribers, up 6.5 million subs from May. This was driven by Paramount+ originals including the new iCarly series, Infinite, UEFA Champions League, The Challenge: All Stars and Why Women Kill. Showtime OTT sub additions were also driven by originals, including “The Chi,” “Shameless” and “City on a Hill.” Paramount+ officially launched in March from the former CBS All Access.
The NPD Take:
- Thank you for the Watch List Paramount+. Continuing with UX enhancements will be a key pillar of customer retention.
- Growth will become more challenging as we exit the hyper growth streaming era and enter into a more traditional battle for share of viewer’s time.
Please note that due to vacations, there will not be a Week In Review for the next two weeks