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Redbox is getting back into streaming and downloads
Redbox's ill-fated attempt to take on Netflix and Hulu shut down in 2014, but Variety reports that it's ready to try again. From the ashes of Redbox Instant rises Redbox Digital, which ditches the subscription element entirely in favor of all-video on-demand all the time. It's focused on the rental and purchase experience, although for now only invited users can try it out.
Redbox gets a new president plucked from the studios, former Warner exec Mark Horak
Redbox went from duking it out with Warner in 2012 over a proposed 56-day delay for rentals to cutting a deal for a shorter 28-day delay and implementing UltraViolet support in Redbox Intant, and now the relationship is getting even cozier. Parent company Outerwall announced its earnings today and that Mark Horak, president of the Americas for Warner Bros. since 2008, will be the new president of Redbox. A "leadership transition" saw former president Anne Saunders leave in December, and Outerwall CEO J. Scott Di Valerio cited Horak's experience and relationships "growing DVD, Blu-ray, video game and digital sale" as reasons he's perfect for the spot he's taking over on March 17th. Other than executive changes at Outerwall's other businesses (Coinstar and ecoATM), we're not seeing any immediate changes, and Redbox's most recent numbers seem on track, with revenue for Q4 that was slightly higher than the same period last year. The most important new business is the Redbox Instant streaming/kiosk combo effort, although it hasn't gained much traction yet against competitors like Amazon Prime Video, Hulu Plus and Netflix. The company says Redbox Instant activity increased as it launched on new platforms like Windows Phone, Xbox One and PS4, but it still didn't have any exact data to share. As far as disc rentals Redbox is focusing on Blu-ray now, since 55 percent of its rental customers have a Blu-ray player. It's already trying to upsell customers to more expensive rentals on its website and app, and plans to roll that out directly on the kiosks soon. The investor call didn't reveal much in the way of a new direction for Redbox, but we're hoping the next step is squeezing a dedicated rental return slot onto the boxes.
Redbox, Sony extend distribution deal, keep the movies flowing with no delays
While Redbox's parent company Coinstar rejoiced over earnings results that showed revenue growth that was partially due to last year's price hike, the kiosk movie renter had more good news after extending its DVD licensing deal with Sony Pictures. This means Redbox can rent Sony movies the same day they go on sale in stores and has the option to license Blu-ray movies as well through September 2014, when Sony will have the option of two one-year extensions. We'll still have to wait and see if it can work out an arrangement with Warner and Disney, and what its streaming service has to offer, but more new movies right away is always good.
Redbox Instant enters alpha testing with help from Verizon (updated)
It's been a long, long road but Redbox's streaming movie service is finally crawling towards reality. In February the DVD vending company announced a partnership with Verizon that would finally usher the Walmart staple into the 21st century. According to Fast Company, Redbox Instant will enter an internal alpha today, beginning the process of ironing out the bugs and fine tuning the offering. Heading up the joint venture will be newly appointed CEO Shawn Strickland, who served as a VP in Verizon's FiOS division. Both physical discs and streaming media will be available as a single package, but execs have been quiet on pricing and structure of those subscription plans. Supposedly we'll be getting more details later today, but in the meantime you can simply go visit the fist-pumping landing page at the more coverage link and sign up for more info. Update: The official PR has hit and you'll find a link to the PDF at the source. There's not much more information sadly, but the portfolio of products is expected to launch later this year.
Redbox snatches up NCR's entertainment division, swallows Blockbuster Express business
If you thought Coinstar was through making industry rattling announcements today, you were wrong. After taking the wraps off its joint venture with Verizon, now the company has announced it'll be taking over NCR's entertainment division for $100 million. That includes DVD kiosks, retailer contracts and an inventory of discs for stocking the machines. That's big news not only because it expands Redbox's already sizable self-serve rental empire, but because it's doing so at the expense of the floundering Blockbuster, since NCR owns the blue and yellow rental kiosks. Presumably existing Blockbuster Express installations will become Redboxes, though, how quickly that might happen is unclear. For a few more details about the deal check out the PR after the break.Update: We've attached a letter from Blockbuster explaining the switchover after the break.
Redbox passed 30,000 kiosks in Q4 2010, but still missed financial expectations
Redbox may be a red-logoed stepchild compared to industry darling Netflix, but according to its parent company Coinstar's Q4 earnings call, it still managed to pass the 30,000 kiosk milestone, increase market share to 30 percent and grow DVD revenue by 38 percent to $319.6 million. Combined with blowing by one billion rentals back in September and avoiding a lawsuit with Fox, the news would have culminated in champagne and karaoke for Coinstar shareholders... except for one thing: new releases underperformed during the last quarter along with Blu-ray rentals. Coinstar CEO Paul Davis was quick to bolster investor concerns on the call, however, stating company management had taken "definitive steps to correct the issues" and was ready to "leverage the First-sale doctrine" -- which refers to a Supreme Court ruling limiting the control of copyright holders over the re-selling of its property -- should studios get sassy in future distribution negotiations. More updates on the company's streaming plans didn't materialize, though, so you'll have to chuck those dreams of instant rental gratification for a buck back in the deep freeze at least in the near term. Otherwise, hit up the source links below to ogle data tables to your heart's content.
Redbox announces plans to enter streaming business next year
It may not be quite the same obvious transition that Netflix made, but it looks like DVD kiosk company Redbox will soon be making a push of its own into the streaming business. That word comes straight from the CEO of parent company Coinstar, Paul Davis, who told listeners to the company's recent earnings call that it is in "detailed negotiations with a number of highly interested parties" to launch a "Redbox-branded" streaming service sometime next year. That would seem to suggest that Redbox will be relying on a partner already established in the field rather than rolling its own service, but Davis was otherwise light on details, adding only that streaming represents a "significant opportunity" for the company. That doesn't mean Redbox will be getting out of the kiosk business anytime soon, though -- according to Davis, there's still a "long, profitable life ahead" there.
Redbox planning to expand Blu-ray availability around the middle of this year
According to statements by Coinstar CEO Paul Davis, we should expect to see Blu-ray discs appearing in more Redbox kiosks around the middle of this year. Specifically called out in its deal with Warner, Home Media Magazine reports he also mentioned the final price for HD rentals is undecided but would "for sure be higher than our standard DVDs." We're thinking $2 a night, any other guesses?
Redbox testing out movie distribution without discs, boxes, red
Downloads and streaming may not be ready to overtake discs yet, but it's become standard practice for anyone in the business of delivering round platters to peek into online options and Redbox is the latest one. Word from VideoBusiness is the company has a trial program going with everyone's favorite partner CinemaNow where customers prepay for rental packages and get a gift card that can be redeemed for the online movies. At a $1 a day, we don't think Redbox is close to being overtaken by the online space, but obviously it is trying to figure out where to go next with its business, and a hybrid deal for movies we don't have to get off the couch -- or put pants on -- to watch is as good of a plan as any.
iTunes 101: From a jug of coins to an iTunes Gift Certificate
Last time we dropped off a jug of change at our local charitable organization, the people there mentioned that they now preferred receiving bills. Apparently, they're getting charged for counting coin donations. With that in mind, we brought our family's donation box over to Coinstar today. We used their locator service to find a nearby machine, which turns out to be at our local Albertson's. Since Coinstar charges a fairly hefty 8.9% counting fee, we opted to cash out in an iTunes gift card and donate the equivalent amount in bills. With iTunes, you get a 100% transfer of funds; no fees. We brought over our pennies, nickles, and dimes in a cup. (No quarters, mind you. They're too handy. I personally bought out all the quarters from the jar in advance.) This was the first time I ever used Coinstar, and I was surprised to learn that you can load bills directly into the machine as well as coins in order to build up a gift certificate. Given that you can buy pretty iTunes gift cards at the grocery's cash register no more than 10 feet away, I'm not entirely sure why people do this. It took far longer to process our gift certificate than I expected. After pouring in the coins (the fun part!), we were there waiting for about 5-10 minutes. Finally, an iTunes gift certificate printed out and we were on our way. The code was a bit longer than the normal redemption codes I'm used to. I entered it into iTunes and it worked fine. My account was credited immediately after. Although the whole stand-and-wait portion was a bit annoying (my helper child got quite antsy), it's something I can easily see doing a few times a year. In the end, we are happy with our iTunes credit and the organization will be happy with the bills instead of the coins.
Coinstar buys out Redbox, will test higher Blu-ray rental prices
Redbox, the company made famous by its red movie rental kiosks, has been completely bought out by its majority owner: Coinstar. The announcement was made during the outfit's Q4 earnings call, and it's expected that the buyout was made in order for Coinstar to wallow alone in the windfall profits that are expected over the next few years. Speaking of profits, we're also being told that Redbox will start testing higher rental prices for BDs, much like Netflix has done, but obviously on a per-rental basis. There's been no word yet on just how high they'll push the Blu-ray rates above the standard $1, but you know you'll just suck it up and pay it. Not like you're reverting to DVD now, right?[Via ZatzNotFunny]Read - BuyoutRead - Increase in BD prices
Turn your change into apps
Ryan P sent us a nice tip about using Coinstar units to turn your spare change into iTunes apps. You've seen Coinstar at the grocery store before -- you throw your spare change in there, and then it spits out a receipt you can take to the service counter for cash (minus a little off the top for the counting). But Ryan told us Coinstar now offers gift certificates instead of cash, if you want, minus the coin counting charge.And one of those certificates can be used at the iTunes store, which means you can throw your coins in, and instead of paying Coinstar to count them, get the full value of your change in an iTunes card. And since apps on the App Store are so cheap, you can use your former quarters and dimes to pick up some terrific apps (may we recommend Sketches, or maybe Pennies -- since you're so coin-conscious anyway). And considering that the amount Coinstar takes out is almost 9%, putting the money in an iTunes card (if you're going to buy the apps anyway) can be a nice chunk of change.
Hacking a CoinStar machine to bypass transaction fees
We've seen a number of somewhat innocent (and equally wily) hacks that save the little man a dime or two, but never quite so literally as this one. CoinStar machines -- best known for charging a whopping nine percent or so for the convenience of counting our coins for us -- have apparently been outsmarted, making the green machine convert your coins to dollars gratis (without going through the process of getting a gift card). Hit the read link to find out more.[Thanks, Joe]Update: Upon reflection, we probably shouldn't go into the gory details of how its done -- but it's nothing so mind-blowing (except for its potential illegality -- you wouldn't tamper with an ATM, would you? This ain't much different.). Or you can, you know, do the right thing and just take an Amazon gift cert and not have to live a look-over-your-shoulder kind of lifestyle.
iTunes gift cards from Coinstar machines
You may have seen those Coinstar machines in your local supermarket. Basically, they turn the coins you've collected in your change jar into bills (for a small fee, usually 8.9%). Recently, they've added a few non-cash alternatives for you to choose from, like charitable donations and prepaid gift cards. Most recently, iTunes gift cards have been thrown into the mix. Toss in your coins and out pops a gift card, all ready to go. Sounds like a good "I-need-a-gift-right-now" solution.Unfortunately, none of the machines in my area are currently offering iTunes cards. You can use the official Coinstar Locater to check on your neighborhood.[Via Infinite Loop]
