- Rival studios including Fox (FOX +0.7%, FOXA +0.9%), Warner Bros. (NYSE:TWX) and Universal (CMCSA -0.2%) are among the ones signing on to a digital film download service built by Walt Disney (DIS -0.2%), Bloomberg reports.
- Disney shares, down as much as 1%, are swinging back to just a slight loss on the day.
- Disney's Movies Anywhere is its "digital locker" play, where consumers can buy films and store them for access via their various devices, and Disney has been working to attract studios over the past year.
- Meanwhile, Paramount (VIA +0.9%, VIAB +0.7%) is the only major who isn't expected to join, because of a financial disagreement, according to the report. But it and Lions Gate (LGF.A -1.8%, LGF.B -1.9%) could join later.
- Efforts such as Disney's and a rival format, UltraViolet, are seen as a hedge against a box office in slow decline (ticket sales this year are down 5% Y/Y) and a collapse in sales of physical DVDs.
- The full plan could be announced as soon as this week, Bloomberg says.