The familiar video rental kiosks co-owned by Verizon and Coinstar are soon getting a facelift. In direct competition with Netflix, Redbox will soon offer digital options (including subscription options) labeled as “a new content-rich video on-demand streaming and download service from Verizon.”
This new service will be enjoyed in addition to the current physical disks service enjoyed by users of the Redbox kiosks.
Unlike Netflix, if consumers choose to receive a physical disk they pick it up and drop it off from the kiosk itself instead of doing the exchange by mail. Whether this is more or less convenient is likely in direct proportion to how close you are to one of their machines.
Whether Redbox can be successful with this is a bit dependent on the studios. Recently Warner Brothers announced that they wouldn’t allow Redbox to distribute titles until 56 days following their release. This kind of delay could be a real problem.
The announcement was not specific regarding what the streaming service would include or how it would be delivered, though they did note that “using the media and devices they prefer.” If they can expect to compete with Netflix (and other competing services), I think we can assume that an app is looming that will allow for streaming on your smartphone, tablet and other console gaming devices.
When asked about the partnership, Paul Davis, chief executive officer of Coinstar, Inc. states that “this alliance is the result of a deliberate and strategic process to identify a partner who shares our commitment to delivering innovative solutions to consumers. We look forward to rolling out the shared benefits this venture will bring to consumers, retailers, and shareholders.”
This new joint venture is expected to become available to consumers by the second half of 2012, with “additional brand and product information [to] be revealed in the coming months.”
Now, what would really make this announcement interesting is if there is any truth to the rumors that Verizon might be making a bid to purchase Netflix.
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