WAL-MART TO STREAM MOVIES ON SAME DAY THEY’RE RELEASED ON DVD

Wal-Mart today (Tuesday) began using its dominance as the world’s largest retailer of DVDs to enhance its online video rental service by making movies available for streaming on the same day they are released on DVD. Price: $3.99. The movies are available via Wal-Mart’s Vudu service, which allows connections to television sets via computers and various set-top boxes. An Associated Press report did not indicate whether Wal-Mart signed separate licensing agreements with the studios that permit such early streaming. Most of Netflix’s streaming library is older fare, and several studios even require Netflix to wait 28 days before it can mail out new releases on disc. On the other hand, Netflix allows an unlimited number of movies to be streamed monthly for what Wal-Mart customers will have to pay to watch just two new releases.