Market Currents
Coinstar (CSTR) and Verizon (VZ) will launch Redbox Instant in an invitation-only beta phase...
-
Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 7:34 AM ETCoinstar (CSTR) and Verizon (VZ) will launch Redbox Instant in an invitation-only beta phase this month with an official rollout planned for next year. For $8 a month, users can stream movies and select up to 4 DVDs per month from Redbox kiosks. An online store will also offer movies for rental or purchase. For now, the service appears to analyst to be only a minor threat to Netflix (NFLX), although the potential for bigger things down the road remains.
Other date
Latest Consumer Articles
This news story has 3 comments:
The ability to purchase and or rent during the PPV /VOD window or purchase via Electronic Sell-Through is the smae as any of thousands of other providers:Amazon, Google, Apple iTunes, Samsung, WalMart,....
The question is what content it has that someone is paying $4 for - I am assuming half the $8 subscription is ear-marked for Redbox's sneakernet "streaming" solution (assuming that you return the disc the next day and dont keep it longer, and of course not counting any of the $/gln gas). By definition, it does not include any of the exclusive content that Hulu and Netflix has (or that HBO, Starz, Showtime, Epix etc. have during their pay cable 1 window) and so it is left with catalogue product of non-exclusive 2nd/3rd run movies available on Crackle, Netflix, Epix HD, and Amazon. In essence, it's Amazon Prime - Lite.
A service offering that only a bell head can love. Fail.