Vodafone Share News (VOD)

Mobile phone provider Vodafone is set to acquire Tesco's video streaming service Blinkbox, as it aims to enter the pay-TV market.The stricken retail giant is set to offset its loss-making on-demand service and negotiations with Vodafone are at an advanced stage after other interested parties have pulled out from the bidding process.According to the Telegraph, Vodafone is not expected to pay over the odds for Blinkbox, as the service has struggled to compete in the digital film and TV rental market against Sky, Amazon and Apple, registering heavy losses since it was launched.As soon as Tesco unveiled a £264m black hole in profits in September, the streaming service was immediately indicated as one of the subsidiaries the retail giant would look to offload, with some analysts going as far as suggesting that Tesco would have to pay to have the business taken off its hands.Tesco's new chief executive Dave Lewis said that, unless a buyer could be found, he would d close the digital division, which he labelled a "distraction" and which reported a loss of £18.5m in it most recently filed annual accounts."Vodafone is basically starting from scratch in content. This will give them a big leg-up. Blinkbox's market positioning also suits them. It focuses on new films that will be attractive to the premium customers that Vodafone targets," a source was quoted as saying by the Telegraph.Vodafone is aiming to launch a TV service as it plans to enter the broadband market and has recently been negotiation with Sky to resell the Now TV service and set-top box.