Bentonville (AR) - Complementing its digital music store that launched a couple years ago, Wal-Mart today unveiled a digital video store, offering TV shows and movies at prices that are marginally less than what iTunes charges.
Movie downloads from Wal-Mart start at $12.88, compared to $12.99 for new release titles at iTunes, which increase to $14.99 after the first week. Wal-Mart also lets studios set their own price, going as high as $19.88. Vintage titles begin at $7.50 for Wal-Mart's store, compared to a fixed $9.99 for similar titles on iTunes.
The iTunes set price model has caused many studios to stay away, with Walt Disney and Paramount as the only two currently available from Apple's digital store. Wal-Mart says all major studios have signed on to provide content to their online service.
Fox is among the list of channels that will be initially be available on Wal-Mart's new digital platform, offering TV shows at a price of $1.96 each, a three cent discount over iTunes. Because of Wal-Mart's dominance in media sales, it was easy for them to convince entertainment companies to get on board with the new service. The huge retail chain counts for about 40% of all DVD sales.
