*By Michael Teich*
Walmart's reported plans to launch a streaming video service may prove futile, said The Information reporter Jessica Toonkel. After all, the retailer, she told Cheddar on Wednesday, is late to the game.
"Netflix and Amazon have been doing this for a while," Toonkel said. "This is a really hard business to get into."
Toonkel broke news this week that Walmart may develop a subscription-based video service to compete with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The retailer is considering a price point below $8 per month and may also include an ad-supported free service.
What's the likelihood that Walmart will actually enter the streaming business? That depends on its willingness to spend billions of dollars, Toonkel explained. But after generating $17 billion in cash last year, the company potentially has enough ammo to match Netflix's aggressive spending budget, pegged at $8 billion for 2018.
But it's not just a matter of cash flow, Toonkel said. "They have a lot of money, clearly, but they also have investors that might not be as patient as investors in Netflix."
Walmart's last attempt to enter video content faltered ー in 2010 the retailer acquired Vudu, a video-on-demand service that currently offers a combined 100,000 movie titles and television series. But analytics firm comScore reported that users spent only 18,000 hours on the platform in May, just 2 percent of the total hours spent on Netflix and 6 percent of hours spent watching Amazon in the same period.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/walmart-could-launch-video-streaming-platform)
Although the auto industry is faced with chip shortages and supply chain woes, Tesla was still expected to report record earnings, and Elon Musk did not disappoint. Jon Rettinger, President of JFL Network, joins Cheddar News to discuss the company, the electric vehicle competition, and growth for the auto industry.
Rita Brooks, Co-Founder of Palmly, joins ChedHER to discuss how she's creating a social networking app for Christians, and her experience being a female founder in the tech industry.
A year after the r/WallStreetBets community on Reddit drove GameStop and other meme stocks to unprecedented heights, the subreddit seems to be losing its luster among retail investors. Caitlin McCabe, markets and retail trading reporter from The Wall Street Journal, joined Cheddar to talk about the waning popularity of the group “Users are going on to find the next GameStop, and instead, they're seeing many of the new users who have joined the subreddit still talking about GameStop and AMC," McCabe noted. "And, they've become frustrated as they're ready to move on from those original meme stocks."
Tech titan Microsoft reported its second fiscal quarter of 2022 earnings on Tuesday, its first earnings report since announcing its plans to acquire gaming company Activision Blizzard in a multibillion dollar deal. Steve Larsen, co-founder of PlannerDAO, explains the role that cloud services played for Microsoft in the quarter and what the future may hold for Microsoft in the midst of the new acquisition.
Microsoft is expected to report financial results for its second fiscal quarter of 2022. It comes after the company beat on its top and bottom line in its previous four quarters. John Freeman of CFRA Research explains what investors will be keeping an eye out for as Microsoft continues to expand its domain.
