Walmart’s membership program Walmart+ may bundle with a streaming service. The report comes from the New York Times and sparks conversation about the strange idea of the retail giant entering the streaming world. Sources told the outlet that Walmart was in talks with major media companies such as Paramount (Paramount+), Disney (Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu), and Comcast (Peacock).
Given the competition with Amazon and its Prime membership program, Walmart exploring a streaming deal could give Walmart+ an opportunity to be a content curation platform and attempt its own Amazon Prime-like service. The company declined to comment to TechCrunch.
While it remains unconfirmed that Paramount+, Disney+, or Peacock could strike an agreement with the big box megastore, it would be an interesting development in the streaming landscape. The idea isn’t far-fetched either, as a Walmart+ membership, which is $12.95 per month, provides members a free six-month subscription to Spotify Premium, on top of free shipping on orders and discounts on fuel.
Wireless providers such as Verizon and T-Mobile have also struck deals with streaming services, offering similar bundles to customers. Verizon offers The Disney Bundle (Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu) to users with select Verizon Unlimited plans. T-Mobile gives customers access to Netflix and a year of Apple TV+ and Paramount+. AT&T recently re-extended its agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery, giving customers the ability to watch HBO Max with their plans.
This also wouldn’t be Walmart’s first time trying to get into the streaming market. The company bought on-demand video service Vudu in 2010 but it could not compete with its rivals and sold Vudu to Comcast-owned Fandango in 2020. Walmart has also invested in Eko, an interactive video company.
Roku partnered with Walmart in June, a deal that brought shoppable ads to the streaming platform and united Roku’s 61.3 million subscribers with a retailer that reported a total revenue of $141.6 billion in Q1 2022.
