Target Ticket, an over-the-top service under development that will target Walmart’s Vudu and Apple’s iTunes, will launch “soon” and offer an array of movie and TV shows for rental and purchase, the retailer told employees last week, TechCrunch reported.
According to the report, most movies will sell for $14.99 and rent for $3.99 to $4.99, with individual TV shows fetching about $2.99 and full seasons selling for about $34.99. Multiple reports identify ABC, AMC, CBS, Fox, the CW, FX, HBO, NBC, Showtime, Star, and USA among programmers that are working with Target Ticket early on.
If Target Ticket opts to stick with a rental/purchase strategy, it will seemingly be a more direct competitor to Vudu and iTunes, as well as paid cable video on demand services, rather than a rival to Netflix and Redbox Instant by Verizon, which rely on subscription models.
Target Ticket entered beta model earlier this year, and still claims to offer a library of about 15,000 titles, including “next-day” access to TV shows.
The last updates made to the Target Ticket app for Apple and Google Play in early August added support for UltraViolet, a digital locker that gives consumers the ability to redeem the online version of select DVDs and Blu-ray TV shows and movies purchased at retail. Target Ticket's beta service also supports PCs and Macs.
According to Google Play, the Target Ticket app has been installed between 1,000 and 5,000 times. The page also notes that Target Ticket remains exclusive to “team members” and holders of Target's REDcard debit and credit cards.
Update: Target has not announced a commercial launch date for the service, but additional details will be offered "soon," a Target spokeswoman said via email. She said Target Ticket will support both streaming and download options.
