Farewell, FandangoNow. The digital entertainment retailer is folding into Vudu, which now becomes the official movie and TV store on the Roku platform.
Both FandangoNow (a spinoff of the online ticketing site) and Vudu offer libraries of movie and TV rentals and purchases. Vudu also housed some free ad-supported content. In April 2020, Fandango — which is majority owned by NBCUniversal — acquired Vudu from Walmart.
Now, the retailers services are combining under the Vudu name. And not only will the new, more robust Vudu power Roku's online movie and TV store, it will continue to do so for Walmart as well.
- The best free streaming services, ranked
- These are the best Roku channels to watch
- Plus: RIP AT&T TV — DirectTV Stream is coming
The offficial announcement release trumpets the fact that the new Vudu will offer "more than 200,000 new release and catalog 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."
The statement also touts top new releases like F9, A Quiet Place Part II and Pixar's Lucas, as well as the arrival next week of Marvel's Black Widow.
While the announcement didn't mention prices on the new Vudu, it's likely that users won't see much change. Rentals on both services generally cost $5.99 for HD and $4.99 for SD, though first-run movies and ones also playing in theaters could go for as much as $19.999. There are also deals and discounts that slash rental prices as low as $0.99. And Vudu has some free movies and TV shows that run with ads.
Starting today, FandangoNow customers can transfer their accounts and any rentals and purchases to Vudu. Vudu customers will have uninterrupted access to their rentals and purchases, and can still use their Walmart login and wallet on the service.
Roku's Movie Store and TV Store will automatically update from FandangoNOW to the new Vudu.
The Vudu app is available on most major devices, including Samsung, LG and Vizio Smart TVs, the Roku platform, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Xfinity X1 and Xfinity Flex, PlayStation, Xbox and Tivo.
- Next: The best Roku devices for streaming movies
