By Walmart Inc. is looking to add a large video streaming service to its Walmart+ membership program as the retailer amps up its competition with Amazon.com Inc., according to people familiar with the situation.
Walmart
WMT,
+0.99%
executives have held talks in recent weeks to discuss a streaming deal with executives at Walt Disney Co.
DIS,
-0.90%,
Comcast Corp.
CMCSA,
-1.11%
and Paramount Global
PARA,
-2.06%,
according to some of these people.
It is unclear if the discussions will result in an agreement, but the retailer is looking to partner with one of the providers, the people said. The talks were earlier reported by the New York Times.
Disney operates the Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu services; Comcast owns Peacock; and Paramount runs the Paramount+ and Showtime services. All three companies are looking to expand their distribution as the competition for subscribers intensifies.
Walmart has worked to grow membership of Walmart+ since introducing the service in 2020. A subscription costs $12.95 a month or $98 a year and includes free shipping on online orders and discounts on gasoline. The retailer has added perks to build interest, such as six months of the Spotify
SPOT,
-3.46%
music streaming service.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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