from www.tgdaily.com They’re cuddly folk at Wal-Mart, and they don’t like mucky stuff – they won’t even sell CDs with sexually explicit lyrics. So it’s no surprise that, right after buying video start-up Vudu, the retailer has shut down its adult section.
Wal-Mart announced on Monday that it was buying Vudu in a deal said to be worth more than $100 million. It’s a move designed to help Wal-Mart move into digital distribution as DVD sales decline.
But it seems WalMart only wants clean business, as its first move as owner is to announce that it plans to shut down the After Dark porn-on-demand channel, which it offers in conjunction with AVN Media Network.
The company has been sending out emails to Vudu partners, asking them to voluntarily terminate their agreements. It points out that, while there’s no contractual obligation on them to do so, there’s not much point saying no, as their content will no longer be distributed.
Wal-Mart’s had a go at digital distribution before. It launched a movie download service back in 2007, but gave up on the idea a year later when HP discontinued the technology it was based on.