Redbox Confirms That Streaming Option Will Come In 2011

Redbox is known as the DVD kiosk company. It's the company that has taken the world by storm by placing a seemingly endless amount of red DVD rental boxes in grocery stores, supermarkets and Walmart locations. They have most likely led to the further decline of Blockbuster sales, and they're arguably quicker and better than Netflix when it comes to need-it-now rentals. Netflix still has a much wider array of DVD choices, but you have to wait on the mail to deliver it; Redbox generally has a lot of newer releases, and they're all waiting in a nearby box for just $1 per night.


But the technology world is moving quickly, and physical DVDs are in risk of being pushed aside in favor of movie streaming. Even Netflix finally started a streaming-only option for consumers in the U.S. and Canada, and their "Watch Instantly" streaming option has been a huge hit with consumers. Now, Redbox will be joining that market. Speaking on a recent earnings call, Redbox executives made clear that they would initiate a streaming option starting in 2011. According to CEO Paul Davis, Redbox is in "detailed negotiations with a number of highly interested parties" to get their branding onto a streaming service.


This means that we may not see an entirely new service; it's possible that Redbox may simply re-brand Amazon's Video on Demand service, but hopefully it will at least be tweaked some to include more new releases. We highly doubt it's a direct partnership with Netflix, but anything is possible. The company also stated that they see streaming as a "significant opportunity," but they aren't pulling out of the DVD kiosk business anytime soon. It's also unclear if this will be an all-you-can-watch option, or a pay-per-view option like iTunes. Time will tell, but more competition can only be good for the end users.