Retailer kicks off its own video downloads service beginning with an exclusive 'Superman Returns' DVD bundle.
By Parija B. Kavilanz, CNNMoney.com staff writer
November 28 2006: 12:39 PM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wal-Mart Stores on Tuesday announced the launch its own video downloads service beginning with an exclusive "Superman Returns" DVD bundle containing a video download option with purchase of the physical DVD.
CNNMoney.com first reported in September that Wal-Mart (Charts), the world's largest retailer, had accelerated its efforts to launch a digital movie service before the end of the year.
Wal-Mart currently accounts for about 40 percent of all DVD sales in the United States. By launching its own service, industry watchers say Wal-Mart can protect that DVD market dominance.
In a press release, Wal-Mart said the service is now available to its customers in all Wal-Mart stores nationwide.
With the purchase of the "Superman Returns" physical DVD, Wal-Mart said customers can also choose from three video download format options -- $1.97 for portable devices, $2.97 for PCs/laptops, and $3.97 for both portable players and PC/laptops.
The retailer said the physical/digital DVD bundle would offer customers the flexibility to watch the Warner Bros. movie on their TV, portable devices as well as their computers.
Warner Bros. is a division of Time Warner (Charts), parent company of CNNMoney.com.
According to Wal-Mart, the Superman Returns physical DVD will come with a video download "feature sticker" on the cover. Customers will then have to log on to walmart.com/superman, enter the promotional code, and select their desired download format.
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Once users create an account and install the video download manager, the purchase completes and the movie download process begins. Wal-Mart said customers can also begin watching the movie while it downloads.
Wal-Mart said it will also test additional DVD bundles as well as offer a beta version of a video downloads service. The beta launch will feature both movie and television content from a number of studios and TV networks.
This wouldn't be the first time that Wal-Mart has attempted to make headway in the digital movie marketplace. Wal-Mart's online movie rental service failed. Walmart.com now refers customers to Netflix (Charts) for movie rentals.
Industry sources said Wal-Mart was eager to get its own download service up and running especially after both Amazon (Charts) and Apple (Charts) unveiled their own movie download services in September.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Wal-Mart will launch the service on Wednesday, according to Wal-Mart's initial press release. Wal-Mart subsequently corrected the information and said the service launches Tuesday.
