Wal-Mart offers Superman download with DVD
Retailer plans to sell more physical/digital combos in coming months
By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 11/28/2006
NOV. 28 | Wal-Mart Stores moved into movie downloads Tuesday, announcing it will offer consumers a download of Warner Home Video’s Superman Returns when they buy the DVD in stores.
Customers will have to pay an additional fee to download the film: $1.97 if they choose to download a copy for portable devices, $2.97 to download a copy for PCs and laptops or $3.97 to download a copy for both portable players and PCs.
“This unique Superman Returns physical/digital DVD combination not only marks our first step into the video downloads market but gives our customers the best of both worlds in movie entertainment,” Wal-Mart divisional merchandising manager for digital media Kevin Swint said in a statement. “They have the DVD as a collectible and for viewing on their home theaters, plus the freedom to download and watch the movie on multiple devices, including portable media players, PCs and laptops. We believe that as we expand this offering to other movie titles, our customers will come to value this extra option as one of the benefits of buying a DVD at Wal-Mart.”
Superman Returns is the only download being offered by the retailer at this point, but Wal-Mart said it will offer additional downloads bundled with DVD sales in the coming months and launch a beta version of its download service, which will include movie and TV show downloads from the major studios. The company didn’t give any further details on which studios or when it would launch its service.
Wal-Mart has reportedly been in discussions with Apple iTunes to offer its customers movie downloads through iTunes, though with Tuesday’s announcement, the company seems to be moving to launch its own service.
Portable downloads of Superman Returns offered through Wal-Mart won’t play on iPods and the PC downloads will only play on PCs with Windows XP, not on Macs or Linux systems.
Wal-Mart spokesman Nick Argarwal declined to comment Tuesday on whether the company is working with Apple iTunes to offer movie downloads or will go it alone.
“What we haven’t announced today is our full beta launch,” Argarwal said. “We’re not going into exactly what we’ve got planned.”
To download Superman Returns, users enter the promotional code from the “feature sticker” on the
DVD at www.walmart.com/superman and choose the download format they want. Users must download the Wal-Mart Video Download Manager to download the movie. They can begin watching the film once downloading begins.
Users get one download copy for their portable or PC, depending on which option they choose to buy. Users can transfer downloads from one PC to another by calling Wal-Mart customer service, but downloads will only be playable on one PC at a time.
PC downloads will be close to DVD quality—640 x 480 resolution. Portable downloads have resolution of 320 X 240.
“This is an unprecedented offering that plays to the strengths of Wal-Mart’s successful
DVD business, while breaking new ground in the nascent digital video download market,” Warner Home Entertainment Group president Kevin Tsujihara said in a statement. “We’re extremely pleased that we were able to help put this package together and work with them on this exciting new venture that presents new choices for their customers.”
