In a rather unsurprising and almost expected move, Redbox has made known their plans to move into the instant streaming business by the end of the year with a new service called Redbox Instant.
Redbox, the start-up chain of video rental kiosks is partnering with Verizon to roll out their online streaming service, which is said will focus more on movies than collection after collection of television seasons much like competitors Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Video have been known for. While the business model is still in internal alpha testing, the company is eyeing a pre-Christmas debut for the service.
Right out of the gate, Redbox is expected to have an edge over Netflix by offering a quicker way for its customers to obtain physical DVD/Blu-Ray media, by offering its users rental credits towards its line of kiosks as a supplement to its streaming service, instead of the standard movie-by-mail system.
However, the move will mark a change in the way Redbox pays its content providers. Instead of a flat, fixed rate payment, the company will instead determine the rate of pay based on its subscriber numbers.
No pricing has been released for the streaming service, but you can bet we’ll keep an eye out for it.
Are you willing to give Redbox Streaming a try? Do you think Netflix should be worried? Let us know in the comments below.