Apple iTunes to compete “day-and-date” with DVD releases — Wal-Mart weeps (now official)

May 1st, 2008 by

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Video

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/iTunes_to_compete_day_and_date_with_DVD_releases’; Hollywood Reporter says that Apple is expected to announce today an across-the-board deal to sell new release films at its iTunes Store. The deal is said to allow Apple to offer a “broad slate of top-shelf films” day-and-date with home video releases — a long time sticking point with brick-and-mortar interests who want to keep their early-release edge on digital downloads. The deal includes Fox, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, Sony Pictures, Lionsgate, New Line and more — all of which are currently inked to deliver rentals through iTunes. MGM is not part of the deal. That puts Apple in direct competition with Wal-Mart’s DVD empire after having pushed Wal-Mart from the top spot in music sales for the first two months of the year.