For the time being, when most of us hear the worlds "online video" we think of user generated videos like those found on YouTube.  And generally speaking, that's the type of video that constitutes the majority of the digital moving pictures that flow down the pipes into user's computers.

Recently, however, a number of players have started offering full-length video and television programming for online viewing.  Several television shows are even available online for free within hours of the network debut.  Netflix, the king of online video rental, has even begun testing a download version of its popular service.

Online video just got another player:  retail giant Wal-Mart.

Unlike the Netflix service, which "rents" downloaded movies to users, Wal-Mart's system will work much like systems in place from Apple and Microsoft in that users will purchase videos… and own them.  According to USA Today, Wal-Mart's video download service features about 3,000 movies and television shows priced between $19.88 - $9.88 (for movies) and $1.96 for television shows.  Movies will be available for purchase and download on the same day their DVD counterparts are released and TV shows will be available the day after they air.

As with so many other markets, Wal-Mart controls a huge percentage of the movie-selling business.  USA Today says that control is somewhere in the ballpark of 40%.  So do you think the major studios are going to resist Wal-Mart's move into downloadable video?  Of course not.

I have to admit:  I didn't put Wal-Mart on my War Room list as an Internet player.  But makes sense to add them.  They have a lot of power to push people around (which they routinely do).  They have the money to do just about anything they want to.  And they have millions of people visiting their stores and websites every single day.  Marketing this new service should be a snap!  I can see Wal-Mart's online video offering doing better than Amazon's.  But I don't think it will do quite as well as Apple's approach (it's really hard to break that iTunes+iPod marriage).

Three reasons I think this service will work:

1. Brand:  People know who Wal-Mart is.  Regardless of their feelings toward the company, most of us spend money at Wal-Mart on a regular basis.  They have one of the most recognizable brands in the entire world.
2. The Site:  From what I can tell, the site looks and works well… in Internet Explorer.  Apparently, it breaks quite a bit in Firefox.  I seriously doubt the TechCrunch crowd will be big buyers of movies at Wal-Mart.  My guess is that the people at Wal-Mart could care less if it doesn't work in Firefox.  The majority of the world still uses Internet Explorer.  As irritating as they may be to you, it's a fact (for now).  Deal with it. That being said, the site should go over well for the masses.
3. Money:  Wal-Mart has plenty of this to work with.  They have the financial resources to make it work if they're smart.  And I think they want it to.  They need some traffic and hits for their site (who's performance has never matched that of the brick & mortar store).

I want to track how this pans out, so I'm going to add Wal-Mart to our War Room and follow the developments of their video service.  It should be interesting to see how/if it competes with the service from Apple (and possibly Netflix in a future incarnation).