Transactional VOD movie service M-Go, acquired by Comcast-owned Fandango in late January, is undergoing a name change: FandangoNOW.
The announcement was made late March 15 via an email to M-Go users. A Fandango spokesman told Broadcasting & Cable that more details on the new FandangoNOW service would be shared March 16.
“We are changing our name from M-Go to FandangoNOW, so please don’t be surprised when you start to see FandangoNOW appear on your applications and Web site,” the email reads. “We hope you will stay with us, and if you do, we assure you the new FandangoNOW will continue to deliver an amazing experience; and we promise that the future will bring new features, offerings, and other cool benefits.”
Fandango said it would be rebranding M-Go (first launched as a joint venture in early 2013 by Technicolor and DreamWorks Animation) shortly after the online movie ticket seller announced the acquisition. Fandango added it would leverage M-Go as a way to boost “super ticket” sales with consumers, where moviegoers can combine a pre-order of a digital version of a film with their theatrical ticket.
On Feb.17, less than three weeks after the M-Go acquisition, Fandango announced it would acquire both the Flixster and Rotten Tomatoes properties from Warner Bros., with the studio taking on a minority stake in Fandango. That deal didn’t include the digital video redemption arm of Flixster, with Warner and Fandango announcing they would slowly transition Flixster content owners to Fandango’s new service — FandangoNOW — later this year.
“Our new expanded network will offer unparalleled capabilities for all of our exhibition, studio and promotional partners to reach a massive entertainment audience with innovative marketing and ticketing solutions that benefit from original content, home entertainment products, ‘super tickets,’ gifts with purchase, and other new promotional opportunities,” Fandango president Paul Yanover said at the time.
