Tesco's looking to sell or close its Blinkbox streaming service
When supermarket giant Tesco announced it was closing its free Clubcard TV streaming service, it didn't come as much of a surprise. However, bigger changes could be afoot, after The Times caught wind of the company's plans to get out of the streaming business altogether. In a recent tour of Tesco's media division, newly-appointed CEO Dave Lewis decided that the Blinkbox business was a distraction, so he's instructed senior staff to sell it. Apparently, if a buyer can't be found, it will simply shut down the service it acquired a little over three years ago.
The news comes at a crunch time for the supermarket. The company is currently subject of an investigation after it overstated its quarterly profits by £250 million, and is just days away from unveiling its new Hudl 2 tablet. Tesco bundled its Blinkbox service on the first-generation Hudl, but with rumours circling about its possible closure, it's possible the app may not make an appearance on its successor. Tesco has already sunk hundreds of millions of pounds into the streaming service, but with Netflix, Sky and Amazon also spending big, the company may go back to basics in order to return to growth.
