Redbox is giving the streaming service business another try.
After its failed attempt to compete against other platforms like Netflix a few years back, the company is officially launching a brand new digital video on-demand service for renting and watching movies.
Dubbed Redbox Digital, the company has already started testing the service among select customers, with its accompanying app for the iPad already available on the App Store.
While the pricing along with the types of titles to be included in its library are not yet known, Redbox Digital will probably expand on the company's rental business model that will make it similar to services like iTunes, Google Play and Amazon Video.
The company has plans to allow the service to work with Google's Chromecast and Roku devices, but will modify the list of compatible devices and hardware over time.
"Some compatible devices may only be able to stream digital items, some only to download digital items, and some to do both," Redbox's rental terms page reads. "Some compatible devices may only be capable of viewing standard-definition digital items and our systems may automatically provide a standard-definition version of the applicable digital item when you are accessing that digital item on such a compatible device, even if you have paid for the high-definition version of that digital item."
Redbox currently provides customers with the ability to rent DVDs from its fire truck red kiosks. Like the Blockbuster vending machine, Redbox customers can rent a movie for $1.50 (plus tax) and must then return the disc by 9 p.m. the next evening.
Redbox Digital will be independent from the kiosks, meaning that because a particular movie is available at the kiosk doesn't guarantee it can be streamed online. However, there's a good chance the internet-based streaming service will offer a wider selection than its physical counterpart. It's just that movies will probably be more expensive than just over a buck.
Although many might think Redbox shouldn't make a second attempt at a streaming service, it could have learned from its mistakes the first time around. The company teamed up with Verizon to launch Redbox Instant back in 2013. The streaming service failed in just a little more than a year, since it could not compete against rival companies like Netflix and Hulu.
It then makes perfect sense to provide a digital "rental" service instead of a monthly subscription service this time around.
Source: Variety
Photo: thekirbster | Flickr
