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Tag: movie rentals

  • Redbox Streaming Service On The Way

    Redbox Streaming Service On The Way

    Verizon and Redbox parent company Coinstar announced a joint venture, which will results in a streaming service for the popular movie rental service. The new service is supposed to launch in the second half of the year under a subscription-based model.

    Redbox’s offerings today, are of course kiosk-based. People can go up to a kiosk at a grocery store, a McDonald’s, a Walgreens or other place, swipe their card, give their email address and rent a DVD or game. Redbox has become very popular thanks to the convenience (customers can return discs to any kiosk) and low prices. The lack of a streaming offering, however, has kept Redbox from being a bigger threat to Netflix and Blockbuster. That may soon change.

    The announcement says that the venture’s services will offer Redbox’s new release DVD and Blu-ray rentals combined with “a new content-rich video on-demand streaming and download service from Verizon”.

    “Consumers rely on Redbox for the latest new release movies at a great value, and our joint venture with Verizon will enable us to bring them even more value by offering expanded content offerings and greater flexibility for how and when they enjoy entertainment,” said Coinstar CEO Paul Davis. “This alliance is the result of a deliberate and strategic process to identify a partner who shares our commitment to delivering innovative solutions to consumers. We look forward to rolling out the shared benefits this venture will bring to consumers, retailers, and shareholders.”

    “When you consider the core elements the parties bring to this venture – our powerful brands; our national rental kiosk footprint; our anytime, anywhere network presence; and our mutual commitment to customer-focused innovation – it’s clear that Verizon and Redbox are a powerful entertainment team,” said Bob Mudge, president of Verizon consumer and mass business markets.

    “The joint venture will combine the accessibility and value of Redbox with Verizon’s vision for a borderless lifestyle – where consumers easily accomplish what they want or need to do, on their terms, through the power of the network,” added Mudge. “Together, we are erasing old technology boundaries, freeing people to spontaneously enjoy the entertainment they want, whenever they choose, using the devices and media they prefer, at home or away.”

    The companies say additional brand and product info will be revealed in the coming months.

    Last week, news came out that Redbox will no longer have 28-day delays on Warner Bros. content. That’s one edge Redbox has over Netflix.

  • The Criterion Collection Comes To iTunes

    The Criterion Collection Comes To iTunes

    Among cinephiles, The Criterion Collection is pretty much a holy organization. Established in 1984, the folks at Criterion’s goal has been to gather the world’s best and most important films from all over the world and distribute them in the highest possible quality. Criterion is oftentimes able to bring to life forgotten classics and films that have fallen off even the most ardent film-lover’s radar.

    And now, as Very Aware has noticed, the Criterion Collection has made a very quiet debut on iTunes. Very quiet in that there’s been no big announcement and their Twitter and Facebook pages are bereft of even the smallest promotion.

    The Criterion selection now available on iTunes is nowhere near the full collection, in fact there are barely over forty individual films available. But they have included some absolute must-sees like Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless, John Ford’s Stagecoach, Kurosawa’s Yojimbo and Marcel Camus’ Black Orpheus.

    The Criterion Collection is known to be a bit pricey – as the DVD’s and Blu-Rays can run anywhere from $25 to $40 – even more in rare circumstances. But here, the prices are quite reasonable, especially in comparison to other movies on iTunes. Most of the Criterion films are $2.99 to rent and $14.99 to buy. By comparison, it’s $14.99 to buy the new release Crazy, Stupid Love (starring Steve Carrell) and $3.99 to rent it.

    That price point on purchases is especially tempting, considering that the same films on physical DVD would be much more expensive. You could build a nice little collection of classic Criterion films on your iPad for (relatively) cheap.

    Of course, the iTunes selection is nowhere near the selection offered on Hulu. There, hundreds of Criterion films are available for a $7.99 a month subscription.

    The lack of fanfare regarding this move is a bit surprising, but maybe it’s because of the fairly soft opening of 46 films. I’m sure that Criterion will add plenty more of its collection to the Apple marketplace. Another disappointing thing about the iTunes launch is the lack of special features – something that makes Criterion films special. As Very Aware points out, Criterion could utilize the iTunes extra feature in the future to bring some of that extra content to its films.

    In other Criterion Collection news, they have been vocal about the fact that it’s Criterion days at Barnes & Noble. Every year, you can snatch up their films for 50% off both online and in-stores for a limited time.

    The more and more I look at this, the more and more I’m tempted to snatch up Hoop Dreams for my iPad for permanent in-flight entertainment.

  • Facebook Movie Rentals Concept Expanded Thanks To Paramount

    More movies are available for rent directly through Facebook, using Facebook Credits. Why is this significant news? Because this time, the titles come from Paramount, indicating that more studios are eyeing this as a potential option for film distribution.

    Warner Bros. was early to test the waters here. Months back, the company made The Dark Knight available for rent via the film’s official Facebook Page. It seemed to work well enough that they wanted to dip a few more toes into the water, as they then made a handful of other films available.

    Jackass on Facebook

    Now, while it may just be Jackass movies at this point, Paramount is clearly looking at this medium for making money from its films. Not a bad idea, considering that not only are a lot of people frustrated with recent Netflix price hikes, but Facebook has a commonly reported (though often disputed) 700 million users.

    They’re charging 30 credits, or the equivalent of $2.99 for the first three Jackass films. They’re charging 40 credits (or $3.99) for the last two (Jackass 3 and Jackass 3.5). The prices seem a little on the high side to me, but there is a convenience factor.

    Movies can be watched for up to 48 hours after the transaction.

    Another interesting factor of Facebook as a movie rental vehicle is that studios can market the rentals directly to users through the news feed. They have the opportunity to push them to people who like the studio’s brand itself, but also through individual film titles. A whole lot of people on Facebook have “liked” a whole lot of films. Then there’s Facebook ads which can be very highly targeted.