Walmart is set to announce a partnership with MGM to produce original content for the big box store’s Vudu transactional platform, according to Reuters.

The news service said Walmart will make the announcement Wednesday during a presentation at the Newfronts West event in Los Angeles.

The "family-friendly" content will be focused to Walmart’s consumer base—that is, folks not living in major cities. The report didn’t specify what Walmart will be paying for the content. But it did say the shows will reside within Vudu’s Movies on Us sub-platform, the free-to-consumer, advertising video on demand (AVOD) portion of Vudu that includes mostly archival movie titles.

“Under this partnership, MGM will create exclusive content based on their extensive library of iconic IP (intellectual property), and that content will premiere exclusively on the Vudu platform,” Walmart spokesman Justin Rushing told Reuters.

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Walmart is reportedly shelving a plan to compete with Netflix, Amazon and Hulu in subscription video on demand.

Walmart acquired Vudu in 2010 as a hedge against declining DVD and Blu-ray sales. The platform specializes in sales and rentals of digital movies and TV shows—a competitive market, with Apples iTunes Store, Amazon, Comcast and others in the mix.

Walmart doesn’t break out financials for Vudu. 

Ooyala, the Telstra-owned online video publishing and analytics specialist, said its technology is helping to underpin Vudu’s new free, ad-supported video service.

Complemetngn its transactional VOD service, Vudu last week launched Vudu Movies on Us, a service that will pair off in the market with AVOD services such as Tubi TV and Crackle, as well as linear-style, free, ad-based OTT offerings such as Pluto TV.

Vudu Intros Free, Ad-Based OTT Option

Ooyala said it’s the “exclusive technology provider” for Vudu’s new multi-platform offering, which is using Ooyala Pulse, an advertising platform that manages real-time campaigns. With that system, Vudu can monitor if campaigns are on track to reach their goals and impression commitments, Ooyala said.

“Ooyala has quickly become an extension of our day-to-day team and ad operations; helping us connect with the right buyers, ensuring value is added on both sides of the equation, and that the process is seamless as we enter a brand new market,” Scott Blanksteen, Vudu’s VP of product, said in a statement.

“As new ad-supported offerings emerge in streaming TV, publishers are immediately faced with the challenge of building their audiences in an app-based environment that lacks unified search capabilities and a user-friendly means for content discovery,” added Seth Walters, senior partner of connected television at Modi Media, the advanced-TV arm of GroupM.  “Advertisers are faced with significant fragmentation when trying to reach audiences at scale.  Vudu Movies on Us presents an opportunity to place our clients’ messaging within an app that already has an established audience.”

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Ooyala’s customers include NBCUniversal, Star India, Sky Sports (U.K.), ITV Studios (U.K.), RTL Group (Germany), M6 (France), TV4 (Sweden), Mediaset (Spain), America Television (Peru), and Media Prima (Malaysia), am among others. 

Taking competitive aim at services such as Tubi TV and Crackle, Vudu, the Walmart-owned OTT, has launched a free, ad-supported offering called Vudu Movies on Us.

Vudu said the new ad-based option features “thousands” of movies and TV shows in 1080p and in Dolby Digital sound (when available). Examples of Vude’s free, ad-supported titles include Mad Max (1980), True Grit (2010), School of Rock, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Star Trek X- Nemesis, Out of Time,Sliding Doors, and The Phantom of the Opera.

Vudu said the new service is its first move into free, HD streaming and follows recent upgrades to its traditional EST service that includes support for titles in 4K/UHD with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos Audio.

“Millions of customers already buy and rent content on Vudu on a monthly basis. This new service provides value for customers who want to watch movies and TV for free, when and how they wish to watch, without sacrificing quality,” Jeremy Verba, VP and GM of Vudu, said in a statement.

To access Vudu’s new free fare, viewers must login to Vudu via a Web browser, mobile or connected TV device, click on the “New” tab on their desktop or “Spotlight” tab on their mobile or living room device, and then click on the “Movies on Us” option.

Vudu supports a wide range of streaming platforms, including certain smart TVs and Blu-ray players, Roku devices, Chromecast adapters, iOS and Android mobile devices, Xbox One and Xbox 360 consoles, PS4 and PS3 consoles, and the new Android TV-powered, 4K-capable Mi Box.