Adapting to a Digital World: Walmart Unveils "Disc to Digital" Service
By: Brad Reed
Updated: April 18, 2012
This week Bentonville-based Walmart unveiled an exclusive service in the home movie entertainment industry. It's called "Disc to Digital" and it allows customers to buy digital copies of their DVD or Blu Ray discs.
This service marks a milestone in an industry that has seen a decrease in DVD sales, and an increase in online viewership. According to the latest data from Comscore Video Metrix --182 million internet users in the U.S. watch video content online per month. Meanwhile overall DVD sales are down 20%.
Enter our nation's largest retailer.
"We talked to our customers for a good 45 days or so trying to figure out exactly what they wanted in movies," says Chris Nagelson, Vice President for Walmart Entertainment. "And what they came back with is they just want it to be simplified."
Nagelson says the trend of watching movies online has its complications.
"You have a lot of different digital formats where movies will only work with those digital formats. Sometimes there's streaming, sometimes there's downloading."
To simplify the process Walmart teamed up with six of the major Hollywood movie studios to create "Disc to Digital" powered by VUDU, the industry-leading video streaming service.
Here's how it works.
You bring your physical DVDs or Blu Ray discs to a Walmart store, and for $2 per disc your movie can then be accessed through VUDU on any of your supporting devices. Computers, tablets, smart phones and anything that supports VUDU can be used.
"I can watch my film anywhere," adds Paul Featherstone, executive director for Sony Pictures. "I can watch it on my phone, I can watch it on my ipad, and I can watch it at home. I have access to it anywhere I go."
While "Disc to Digital" service gives customers easier access to their favorite films, it's also a look into the future of an entertainment industry adapting to a digital world.
"We're going to come to a point one day where you buy a movie at Wal-Mart and you can watch it on anything," says Nagelson.
What to learn more about how "Disc to Digital" works? Click on the video to see the entire story.
This service marks a milestone in an industry that has seen a decrease in DVD sales, and an increase in online viewership. According to the latest data from Comscore Video Metrix --182 million internet users in the U.S. watch video content online per month. Meanwhile overall DVD sales are down 20%.
Enter our nation's largest retailer.
"We talked to our customers for a good 45 days or so trying to figure out exactly what they wanted in movies," says Chris Nagelson, Vice President for Walmart Entertainment. "And what they came back with is they just want it to be simplified."
Nagelson says the trend of watching movies online has its complications.
"You have a lot of different digital formats where movies will only work with those digital formats. Sometimes there's streaming, sometimes there's downloading."
To simplify the process Walmart teamed up with six of the major Hollywood movie studios to create "Disc to Digital" powered by VUDU, the industry-leading video streaming service.
Here's how it works.
You bring your physical DVDs or Blu Ray discs to a Walmart store, and for $2 per disc your movie can then be accessed through VUDU on any of your supporting devices. Computers, tablets, smart phones and anything that supports VUDU can be used.
"I can watch my film anywhere," adds Paul Featherstone, executive director for Sony Pictures. "I can watch it on my phone, I can watch it on my ipad, and I can watch it at home. I have access to it anywhere I go."
While "Disc to Digital" service gives customers easier access to their favorite films, it's also a look into the future of an entertainment industry adapting to a digital world.
"We're going to come to a point one day where you buy a movie at Wal-Mart and you can watch it on anything," says Nagelson.
What to learn more about how "Disc to Digital" works? Click on the video to see the entire story.
