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Future of TV Fandango Flixster

Fandango makes move into streaming content

By Benjamin Lichtman, Contributor

March 21, 2016 | 3 min read

For the past several years, the movie and entertainment industry has seen rapid change. As U.S. box office receipts remain stagnate, many have looked overseas, and to China in particular, for growth opportunities. But, throughout this tumult, one company has been seemingly unaffected: Fandango. And it’s continuing its growth with the announcement of the March 30th launch of FandangoNOW, the company’s new on-demand video service.

The move is not unexpected. Earlier this year, the company acquired the streaming service M-GO, which was a joint venture of Technicolor and Dreamworks. There were questions as to what exactly Fandango would do with the acquisition and now it appears that it will be simply be repackaged under a different name.

For Fandango, the new venture continues its impressive expansion, evolving from a company that sells movie tickets to a diversified movie company. Backed by Comcast, the company purchased the popular brands, Rotten Tomatoes and Flixster, along with the immensely popular, MovieClips, whose YouTube channels have over 13 million subscribers.

FandangoNOW moves the company into the realm of content. The new venture will provide a “massive library” of new releases and catalog movies, along with “next-day TV shows for purchase and rental” available on a variety of connected devices. “The launch of FandangoNOW is a huge milestone for the company, as we aim to deliver the best movie experience anytime and anywhere, across the total movie lifecycle,” said Fandango President, Paul Yanover. “We’re thrilled to launch FandangoNOW in time for 2016’s most anticipated in-home debuts, including recent blockbusters and Oscar contenders for which we sold millions of tickets during their theatrical release.”

Fandango has outpaced its main industry rival, MovieTickets.com, in recent years. The company now sells tickets on more than 27,000 screens, nearly doubling since it was bought in 2007, and its app has been downloaded 51 million times. During Star Wars’ opening weekend, Fandango accounted for an astonishing 37 per cent of sales. But, Fandango is clearly not content with just dominating the movie ticket industry. While it may not actually get into the movie making, it seems poised to capitalize on just about everything else.

Future of TV Fandango Flixster

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