Redbox Launches New Digital Movie and TV Rental Service

('https://www.macrumors.com/2017/12/13/redbox-on-demand-launches/')


Redbox ('http://www.redbox.com/'), the company that offers physical movie rentals via kiosks around the United States, today launched ('https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/redbox-launches-on-demand-service-300571030.html') a new digital Redbox On Demand ('http://www.redbox.com/ondemand-browse/genres') service designed better compete with other digital TV and movie services.

Redbox On Demand, available as a public beta, allows customers to rent or purchase movies and TV shows for streaming. The service offers many of the same new-release movies that are available from physical Redbox locations, along with additional content.



Redbox previously had a digital streaming service called Redbox Instant ('https://www.macrumors.com/2012/12/19/redbox-instant-launches-private-beta/') in partnership with Verizon, but it shut down in 2014 after being unable to compete with offerings like Netflix. Redbox has been testing its new On Demand service, which focuses on rentals and outright purchases, since July of 2016.

Pricing for new-release on-demand rentals from Redbox starts at $3.99 for 48 hours of access, but most new titles are priced at $5.99, with Redbox charging $1 more for high-definition content. Movie purchases are also available at prices starting at $9.99, and can be downloaded for offline viewing.

Redbox's rental prices are similar to rental prices from iTunes, Amazon, and other digital movie rental services.

Redbox On Demand is available from the Redbox website, through the Redbox app for Android and iOS, and it is accessible on the Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, and smart TVs from LG and Samsung.

While Redbox On Demand content can be watched on iOS devices and the Apple TV, content needs to be purchased through the Redbox website ('http://www.redbox.com/').

Article Link: Redbox Launches New Digital Movie and TV Rental Service ('https://www.macrumors.com/2017/12/13/redbox-on-demand-launches/')

[doublepost=1513206711][/doublepost]So basically they're still irrelavent and spending tons of cash to provide the same service we've had for years via Apple, Amazon and Google Play...

I still don’t understand why digital rentals are more expensive than physical. Isn’t the overhead so much less? No paying someone to drive around and swap out disks. No dealing with broken / bad disks. You can rent out an infinite number of just “one” digital copy, etc, etc.

Or, with physical copies, are they assuming most people won’t return the disk within a day, and therefore will make the same amount of money as a digital rental? If so, I feel bad (not really), as Redbox is definitely losing money on me whenever I partake of The Box (which isn’t often, these days).

Can't rent through the Apple TV? PASS!

Only benefit I see in this is if they can offer the rentals for new releases while Apple is still trying to force people to buy them.

Not interested. What made Red Box so popular was .99 a day. Then they upped their prices. I think I was paying 1.79 or so the last time I rented from them. Now they essentially want to charge as much as Apple and others but be way less convenient

Be interesting to see if they can adapt. Netflix used to be solely a mail rental service.. I used to get their disks in the mail a lot. They successfully managed to convert their business model over to streaming. Redbox potentially could do the same. As a consumer that competition just helps keep prices down.

Spend that money reopening Blockbuster stores.