After news broke that Walmart was acquiring Vudu (the Silicon Valley startup that’s been promoting Web-based streaming movies to TV sets) many wondered whether the new owners would make any changes to its lineup. That’s because Vudu has the distinction of being the only major streaming movie service that has a dedicated adult section, offering hundreds of titles from leading adult studios, with discreet billing and password-protected privacy controls.
According to an email sent out to partners today, that’s about to change. Vudu’s After Dark section will be discontinued, with its contents moving over to the main Vudu catalog in the coming days. The company has also announced that it will be increasing the number of HD titles available for purchase (not just rent) from 1,000 to 2,000 by year’s end.
This is a smart move to placate new digital media adopters who might be worried that Vudu doesn’t have enough of the stuff they want to watch. As for the rest of its content, Vudu has licensing agreements with most major film studios and offers a broad selection of films in standard-definition, high-definition and 4K ultra high definition formats, and with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision support for some titles. The service also offers a lifetime content warranty for all purchased and rented movies, and allows users to watch them on multiple devices. And with the announcement that it’s partnering with Amimon to add wireless capability to its set-top box, Vudu will soon be able to offer a more complete multi-TV solution for home entertainment systems.