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Here Comes the Competition – Walmart, Dish, and Tivo Take On Netflix

by Jordan Rabinowitz on May 25, 2011

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Not too much happening on the home front for Netflix today. Let’s take a look at what some of her competitors have been up to, shall we?

First, Wal-Mart owned Vudu is trying to get a leg up on, or rather, get even with Netflix by striking a deal with Vizio to have a “Vudu button” on certain television remotes manufactured by the tech company. Vudu hopes this will give them a competitive edge with Netflix, who made a similar move with several other consumer electronics manufacturers a few months ago. Will the new buttons, that will first appear on Vizo HDTVs, 3DTVs, and Blu-ray players, have a real impact on Vudu’s place in the real-time entertainment industry? Vudu hopes that it will, and at the very least, provide the exposure necessary to compete with the Goliaths of the live-streaming world. [Engadget]

Dish Network TV has finally showed its hand behind the deal it completed last month to buy Blockbuster. It revealed that it plans to offer a free three month subscription to Blockbuster Online – the DVD rental service that was created to fight off the up and coming Netflix – to all new Dish customers. Dish Network TV hopes their newly acquired 100,000 items-strong catalog, and their 28-day edge over Netflix and Redbox, will raise their stock in the competition, something that Blockbuster itself could not accomplish. Personally we feel getting into the DVDs by mail game is the wrong move. [Daemon's Movies]

And finally, a new companionship has been forged between Tivo and Hulu, as the DVR inventors have just announced that Tivo will begin streaming Hulu Plus content on its set-top box. “Hulu Plus on Tivo Premier,” as it’s being called, will be offered as a six month free trial for current customers who buy a new Tivo Premier DVR. If Hulu Plus is serious about playing the game, and bringing Tivo in with it, then the stakes have been raised all across the board. [Digital Trends]

Should be interesting to see what happens when Netflix takes its blinders off next.

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Tagged as: Blockbuster, Compete, Competition, Dish Netword, home entertainment, Home Video, Hulu, Netflix, Streaming, tech, Technology, Tivo, trends, Vizio, Vudu, Walmart

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