Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Redbox Launches New Digital Movie and TV Rental Service

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
67,471
37,715



Redbox, the company that offers physical movie rentals via kiosks around the United States, today launched a new digital Redbox On Demand 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.

redboxondemand-800x500.jpg

Redbox previously had a digital streaming service called Redbox Instant 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.

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



Redbox, the company that offers physical movie rentals via kiosks around the United States, today launched a new digital Redbox On Demand 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.

redboxondemand-800x500.jpg

Redbox previously had a digital streaming service called Redbox Instant 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.

Article Link: Redbox Launches New Digital Movie and TV Rental Service
Click to expand...
[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...
 
  • Like
Reactions: nburwell, WWPD, djlythium and 2 others
Ugh. I was ready to download the app to my Apple TV but stopped when I realized I'd have to purchase from their website before viewing. It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but why bother when I can get Amazon Prime, Netflix, Crave TV and of course Apple's stuff from within Apple TV?
 
Cosmosent said:
RE: "While Redbox On Demand content can be watched on iOS devices and the Apple TV, content needs to be purchased through the Redbox website."

In other words, Apple won't be getting their 30% cut !

Smart move by Redbox !
Click to expand...

I guess we'll see. I know people were upset when Apple removed Amazon's buy function for Kindle books from IOS (or Amazon pulled it due Apple's requirement for their cut, I can't recall). Yet that didn't put a dent in Amazon's sales.

This is different though: if you prefer to watch programs on your TV, you'll have to have your Macbook/iPad/iPhone ready to make the purchase before you can watch it. Unless Redbox starts programing their own shows, like Amazon and Netflix, I don't see a point in renting anything from them.
 
wolfshades said:
I guess we'll see. I know people were upset when Apple removed Amazon's buy function for Kindle books from IOS (or Amazon pulled it due Apple's requirement for their cut, I can't recall). Yet that didn't put a dent in Amazon's sales.

This is different though: if you prefer to watch programs on your TV, you'll have to have your Macbook/iPad/iPhone ready to make the purchase before you can watch it. Unless Redbox starts programing their own shows, like Amazon and Netflix, I don't see a point in renting anything from them.
Click to expand...


Redbox will very-likely be able offer the lowest prices for most content ! ... their NOT a High-End content company, but they have carved-out a nice niche at the Lower End & they do have a BIG fan base in smaller communities.
 
Cosmosent said:
Redbox will very-likely be able offer the lowest prices for most content ! ... their NOT a High-End content company, but they have carved-out a nice niche at the Lower End & they do have a BIG fan base in smaller communities.
Click to expand...

From the article:
MacRumors said:
Redbox's rental prices are similar to rental prices from iTunes, Amazon, and other digital movie rental services.
Click to expand...

Who knows though? Maybe they'll re-think it and revise their pricing structure to actually compete with Apple et al.
 
Christian 5G said:
I haven’t used redbox in a long time. Good for them.
Click to expand...

I used to rent regularly almost every week with Redbox with new releases years back. But then I stopped once I started renting digitally. This was a much needed move by Redbox in order to survive in a vicious market when digital media is becoming more streamlined.
 
Relentless Power said:
I used to rent regularly almost every week with Redbox with new releases years back. But then I stopped once I started renting digitally. This was a much needed move by Redbox in order to survive in a vicious market when digital media is becoming more streamlined.
Click to expand...
Not for nothing, if you're a big movie fan, you may want to check out moviepass. $10 a month for a movie per day.
 
Relentless Power said:
I have never used movie pass before. Thanks for the suggestion. Do you know if you can rent the movies in HD?
Click to expand...
You cannot unfortunately. You have to go to the theater to watch the movie. It's access for in-theater 1st run movies. Has to be standard movies though, no 3D or IMAX. Here's the general info about it.
http://www.businessinsider.com/movi...as-amc-theatres-come-out-against-moviepass-19

A couple of guys at work are movie buffs and swear by it. One guy hits about 20 movies a month.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dabotsonline
69Mustang said:
You cannot unfortunately. You have to go to the theater to watch the movie. It's access for in-theater 1st run movies. Has to be standard movies though, no 3D or IMAX. Here's the general info about it.
http://www.businessinsider.com/moviepass-faq-2017-8?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider+(Silicon+Alley+Insider)/#why-has-amc-theatres-come-out-against-moviepass-19

A couple of guys at work are movie buffs and swear by it. One guy hits about 20 movies a month.
Click to expand...

Definitely will look into it. Appreciate the information.
 
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).
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Jesse Waugh and Spizike9
rxavier said:
[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...
Click to expand...

Irrelevant is a bit of a stretch. They have a huge physical presence, and are pretty popular. Besides... isn't more competition a good thing?
 
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
 
Spizike9 said:
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
Click to expand...

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.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Spizike9
As a filmmaker, I can say that there’s nothing to see here. Nothing new. Prices are fixed at this point by studios, Apple, and Amazon.

I wanted my movie to be $1.99 to rent digitally when it was a new release and $.99 when on sale. I wanted volume, not profit per rental. But I had no say.

I think it’s a misconception because App developers can set their own price. Movies and books cannot, by law, set their own price. The percentages are the same, with Apple taking a 30% cut, but a 30% cut of the price that THEY choose, as long as it is above our wholesale price. I had our distributor lower our wholesale price as low as they would go and all of the stores stayed firm on rental prices. Amazon was the only store who lowered our full digital purchase price.

I believe the wholesale price was $4.99 and Amazon was the only one who sold for $7.99 to own. XBox and PSN were still selling the movie for $19.99 and iTunes was still selling at $12.99. When we’d make a sale, we’d still get our 70% of the higher price... but we were not asking for that behind the scenes.

The system is stupid. I’m pretty sure it is like this because of the e-book collusion case with Apple. So now everyone has to let each store set its own prices but the greediest of the big studios set higher wholesale prices, so the digital stores raise the prices of ALL new releases to normalize the prices of all movies making a consistent (and consistently high) price whether you are buying an indie or Star Wars.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dabotsonline
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back