Vudu Cracks 1,000 HD Titles
Site adding 150 new HD movies a week
By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/9/2008 8:00:00 PM
Online movie service Vudu says it is now offering over 1,100 HD titles for instant, on-demand viewing, which it says represents the largest library of HD content available on-demand today.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Vudu, which uses a proprietary Internet-connected set-top box to facilitate on-demand viewing of 10,000 movies and TV shows, ramped up its HD offerings dramatically this fall. In September it introduced a new 1080-line progressive format called HDX that dramatically improved the picture quality it delivers for select HD titles, and overall, it has been adding some 150 new HD titles a week ranging from new release like Journey to the Center of the Earth to classics like Cool Hand Luke.
Comcast, by comparison, announced last month that it has over 1,000 HD “choices,” including 200 HD on-demand movies from top movie providers, major sports channels and nearly 300 television shows in HD
“We’re certainly proud to offer the largest HD library on the planet, but the motivation to accomplish this really sprang from our customers, retail partners and home theater installation professionals, all of whom were asking for more HD content,” said Edward Lichty, Executive VP of content at Vudu, in a statement.
“And this is only the beginning of our effort. Our goal is to maintain a leadership position in offering the best picture quality experience and the deepest library anywhere when it comes to HD.”
Vudu is pushing its service through a partnership with Best Buy under which consumers can buy a $299 VUDU bundle which includes a VUDU Internet Movie Player and $200 worth of movie credits.
