Now that Netflix will face some formidable video streaming competition in the form of Redbox and Amazon, it will need to keep adding content to remain in the front of the pack. [More]
movie rentals
Redbox Confirms Plans To Take On Netflix In Streaming Biz
By 2.21.11
Redbox wants to be the new Netflix, and the company is stepping into the realm of video streaming. [More]
iTunes No. 1 In Online Movie Rentals, But For How Long?
By 2.10.11
Those who rent films online — presumably not counting Netflix streamers, who pay monthly subscriptions — use iTunes more than any other service, but Apple’s stranglehold on the market is loosening. [More]
Netflix Stops Letting You Add To DVD Queue From Streaming Devices
By 1.18.11
For years, Netflix steadily made its service more user-friendly by adding devices on which it let you stream films and improving the apps that let you do so. But now the company has taken a step backward in functionality by removing the ability to add DVDs to your queue from everything but the Netflix site. [More]
Redbox Sales Dive, Possibly Due To 28-Day New Release Delay
By 1.17.11
Redbox rental kiosks apparently aren’t as appealing when its “new releases” are no longer so new. Thanks in part to an agreement not to stock new discs from major studios until 28 days after release, Redbox sales are down despite kiosk traffic remaining consistent. [More]
Roku Rep Tells Me There Are Secret Limits To Netflix Streaming (Updated)
By 12.24.10
Update: A Roku spokesman said there is no limitation on Netflix streaming. His statement: [More]
Redbox Will Stream Movies Next Year
By 11.1.10
Not content to beckon to you subliminally from its kiosks planted in heavily trafficked areas, Redbox’s corporate parent Coinstar announced it will launch a streaming service next year. Teaming with an unannounced partner, the instant rental service will go head to head with the Netflixes and Hulus of the world. [More]
Netflix Will Start Treating Americans As Well As Canadians 'Over Coming Months'
By 9.24.10
Making an about-face after stirring up a hornet’s nest of discontent by saying Americans were too self-absorbed to notice his company was providing cheap, streaming-only access to Canadian customers, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said he was joking and that Americans would get a similar service soon. [More]
Netflix Will May Let You Stream 'The Expendables' Shortly After It Hits Blu-ray/DVD
By 9.10.10
To Blockbuster and other competitors, Netflix must seem like the guy in a game of Monopoly who collects Boardwalk and Park Place early on, then proceeds to run everyone else out of business with a grin. The rental giant reached a deal with Nu Image/Millennium Group (distributors of The Expendables and Brooklyn’s Finest) to stream its films shortly after they reach home video. [More]
Video Store Guy Calls Me 8 Times About Overdue Movies
By 8.9.10
Jon neglected to return a couple DVDs to the rental store on time and had to suffer the telephonic wrath of someone who bombarded him with 8 consecutive calls from both the store phone and his personal cell. [More]
Blu-Ray Redbox Spotted In The Wild, Rental Costs $2 For First Day
By 6.10.10
While Redbox says that they’re still figuring out price points for Blu-Ray discs in their movie kiosks, reader Dave discovered a box in the wild near San Francisco–clearly part of some test marketing effort. The price points are different from anything we’ve heard before. The machine offers Blu-Ray rentals for $2 for the first night, then $1 for each subsequent night. Yes, he sent pictures. [More]
Indiana County Won't Prosecute Stores With Redboxes
By 3.7.10
The Indiana prosecutor who sent letters threatening criminal prosecution to grocery and big-box stores containing video rental kiosks has decided not to prosecute because the general public thinks that the idea is incredibly stupid. [More]
Indiana Prosecutor Wants PG, PG-13, And R-Rated Movies Out Of Redbox Kiosks
By 3.4.10
Redbox kiosks are cheap and convenient sources for DVD rentals. And, according to a prosecutor in southern Indiana, they’re corrupting our children. Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Stanley Levco has sent letters threatening legal action against retailers providing space to Redbox and MovieCube kiosks. The problem? Automated kiosks don’t have enough safeguards preventing minors from renting material that could theoretically harm them. [More]
Disney Claims "Up" DVD Missing Captions Were A Mistake
By 11.22.09
Many Consumerist readers wrote to Disney about the missing captions in rental editions of the Pixar movie “Up,” either because they were personally affected or they found the omission offensive. In their response, Disney at least acknowledges the unique issue and promises to make up for the mistake of consumers submit proof that they rented “Up.”
Watch Out For Throttling If You're On A Blockbuster Rental Plan
By 6.4.09
Robert’s recent experience with his local Blockbuster just underscores how ill-equipped the rental chain is to compete against Netflix and new-star-on-the-block Redbox. Whether Robert has caught them deliberately throttling his account, or he’s just the victim of a poorly implemented system, it’s not the kind of customer experience you should have to settle for anymore.
By 3.25.08
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Netflix has been asking its members about their Xbox 360 usage habits as it considers whether to stream movie rentals over the device. Are you a Netflix subscriber who owns a 360? Were you surveyed?
