Andre Yoskowitz
14 May 2009 21:56
VUDU has announced today that it will begin offering music and video for free through its service, fully ad-supported.
The deal, made with Brightcove, will initially only include Sony music and videos. The company hopes to eventually add long-form content to the new service but there is no set roadmap.
The move will make VUDU one of the first media hubs to try to add advertisements as part of the working business model. Rivals such as the Apple TV and Roku provide access to existing services or use the standard pay-per-title model.
The ad-backed model has not been thoroughly tested but for the most part has failed miserably with the notable exception being Hulu, the video site which continues to see huge growth.