Vodafone is set to buy the loss-making on-demand video service Blinkbox from Tesco, according to The Telegraph. It reports that talks between the mobile operator and the supermarket are so far advanced that all other parties have withdrawn from the bidding.
Vodafone is expected to pick up Blinkbox for a relatively small sum as the service has struggled against bigger rivals including Sky, Apple, Amazon and Netflix.
Tesco’s desire to sell the service has accelerated since it revealed a £246 million blackhole in the accounts of its main grocery business earlier this year. Separately Blinkbox accounted for a loss of £18.5 million.
Buying Blinkbox would give Vodafone a welcome source of content as it gets ready to launch broadband and pay-TV services early next year.
Despite Tesco’s urgent desire to sell Blinkbox, it has been updating the service. Just last week it added offline mode to Blinkbox’s tablet apps.
Neither Vodafone nor Tesco had a comment on the potential deal.
➤ Vodafone in talks for Tesco’s loss-making pay-TV service [The Telegraph]
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