Companies launch new products and shutter flailing products all the time, and it often goes unnoticed. You might not know anything about Target Ticket, and you might not care.
But Target Tickets exists, at least for now. Target has just announced that the service will shut down on March 7, in order to let it “focus efforts on other entertainment offerings.”
“Thank you for choosing Target Ticket for your digital entertainment. We Hope that you’ve enjoyed your movies and TV shows with us. Target has made the decision to end the services offered on Target Ticket and will be focusing efforts on other entertainment offerings. Effective March 7th, 2015, Target Ticket will no longer be accessible on your device applications, gaming consoles, tablets, smartphones, or on the web,” says Target on a notice posted to the Target Ticket landing page.
So, what is was Target Ticket? In September of 2013, after months of beta testing, Target launched Target Ticket wide. At Target Ticket, you could rent and buy movies and TV shows on-demand. It was a Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus competitor in that it offered over-the-internet, on-demand content – but it really wasn’t a competitor in that it didn’t offer any streaming subscription plan.
The content wasn’t ever a problem with Target Ticket – it offered major movie releases and top TV shows. I guess it was that nobody needed it. Target marketed it as a “family friendly” product, but you know, if that’s your selling point…
So, are you a Target Ticket customer? Probably not. But if you are, here are your options moving forward:
– Do you have purchased movies lying around? Are they UltraViolet? Good, they’ll be available on other platforms like Vudu and Flixster.
– Do you have purchased movies/TV shows lying around? Are they also available on CinemaNow? Good, because Target has partnered with CinemaNow to allow users to transfer their libraries over. Of course, if the movie you purchased via Target Ticket isn’t available on CinemaNow then you’re…
– Shit out of luck. Well, not exactly, you’ll receive store credit according to Target.
Target will give us more info as the March 7 deadline approaches. Till then, pour one out for Target Ticket. RIP.