Tesco enters VOD market with Blinkbox

Supermarket giant Tesco has acquired an 80% stake in online video service Blinkbox.

The move sees the company, which is the third largest retailer in the world, move aggressively into the online video market and will see it compete with Amazon-owned Lovefilm and services such as SeeSaw. Tesco has bought the stake from private equity investors Eden Ventures and Nordic Venture Partners. 


Blinkbox offers around 9,000 movie and TV titles that customers can stream or buy via a series of platforms including computers, tablets and Playstation3 consoles.


Richard Brasher, Tesco UK CEO said, “Whether customers want to own the DVD, download a digital movie, stream a rental or all three, Tesco is committed to giving customers choice. We want to allow them to decide how they access entertainment content and on which devices, whether it’s on PC, TV or tablet. The acquisition of Blinkbox, together with a range of other services currently in development, means we can link physical purchase of a product to the building of digital collections in a new and seamless way. Working with the Blinkbox team and our content partners, we will bring these compelling propositions to life for our customers.”