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Blockbuster DVD kiosks creeping into New England supermarkets

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 28th 2009 at 10:52AM

Look out Redbox, Blockbuster is coming. The rental giant is expanding its test program with NCR, planning to deploy kiosks in all 57 Big Y locations in Massachussetts and Connecticut by September 3, with a familiar $1 per night pricing scheme. No word on any Blu-ray discs being tucked into these automated movie towers, and while 57 locations is hardly on the level of Redbox's thousands of self service locations, we wonder if this is just the beginning of a push to the "10,000 kiosks installed within 18 months" goal stated by NCR CEO Bill Nuti a year ago, but we suppose we'll know they're big time when the movie studios start suing.

Redbox CEO talks up DVD rental business, streaming competitors

by Darren Murph posted Jan 3rd 2009 at 7:20PM

Redbox -- the outfit that makes its ends by offering consumers $1 DVD / Blu-ray rentals in kiosk stations positioned at grocery stores, Walmarts and other retail outlets -- has let its CEO out of the corner office long enough to speak with VideoBusiness. With B&M rental outlets feeling the pain from by-mail / online alternatives, VB questioned whether Redbox's business model was viable. Gregg Kaplan noted that the model was indeed viable and profitable, harping on the fact that many families are redirecting out-of-home entertainment dollars to at-home entertainment. He's also publicly confident that the business will continue growing "at a brisk pace," and given that its market share currently sits at just 5% to 10%, it definitely has the room to grow. We have to say, Redbox has it pretty good. While many are too lazy to make a trip to the video store, it's actually convenient to grab a flick while you're out grabbing produce; hit the read link for the full interview.

Are alternative renting methods killing mom 'n pop movie stores?

by Darren Murph posted Jan 2nd 2009 at 7:03PM

We've already polled the audience this year to see if you all still visited the tried-and-true rental store on any sort of regular basis, and most everyone made clear that the act of driving out to rent a movie was simply old hat. A new writeup over at the Press of Atlantic City takes a look at how close these establishments are to caving to alternate forms of renting. These days, consumers have a copious amount of options: VOD via their pay-TV provider, Netflix (by mail and online streaming), Hulu, VUDU and tons more internet-based alternatives. It doesn't take long to realize that driving out to get a movie isn't required anymore. Interestingly enough, not everyone expects the mom 'n pop rental shops to close up in the coming years, with an increasingly aging population still sticking to their roots and doing things the ways they always have. What say you? How long does the B&M rental outlet model have before it's overtaken by newer methods?

It's official: Redbox welcomes Blu-ray with open arms

by Darren Murph posted Nov 24th 2008 at 5:26PM


They always said a picture was worth a few hundred words, and that's about right with the image above. After toying with the idea for a tick, it seems that Redbox has decided to go Blu. Starting now in select movie rental kiosks, users can rent a Blu-ray Disc for just $1 per night, but you'll have to be lucky enough to be near one that actually serves up BDs. Have a look at your local machine(s) and see if you're one of the fortunate ones.

[Via VideoBusiness]

Red Box makes space for Blu-ray on its website

by Darren Murph posted Nov 16th 2008 at 1:30PM


Despite the obvious color bias in the company's name, Red Box is giving Blu-ray a fighting chance. After hearing that BDs were popping up in rental kiosks around the Northwest, it's now looking mighty official that Blu-ray Discs will be headed to its rental boxes around the country. As of now, the firm has made space for a dedicated Blu-ray section on its website, though it's currently empty and waiting for occupants. Impulse renting of BDs? Now there's something the BDA won't mind hearing.

[Thanks, Michael]

DVDPlay bucks the trend, actually drops prices of movie rentals

by Darren Murph posted Oct 6th 2008 at 2:09PM


Good news, DVDPlay addicts. That little movie kiosk that you can't seem to ever avoid as you exit your local food mart is about to become less of a drain on your wallet. Reportedly, the company has decided to lower its per-movie rental fee from $1.49 to $1.00, with president Charlie Piper stating that in "an economy of rising prices, our customers are looking for value for their entertainment dollars." The price change went into effect on October 1st, and it seems that Blu-ray rentals will also be ratcheted down to a buck. Not bad, if we should say so ourselves.

[Image courtesy of SelfServiceWorld]

Blu-ray Discs popping up in Red Box rental kiosks

by Darren Murph posted Sep 13th 2008 at 2:35PM


DVDPlay already announced its intentions to start stuffing Blu-ray Discs into its movie rental kiosks earlier this year, and we've been waiting ever since to hear a similar announcement from rival Red Box. Today, we're still waiting for said announcement, but we've received a report from the wonderfully named Aloha, Oregon that at least one Red Box movie rental kiosk has a Coming Soon flyer for Speed Racer on BD. When our tipster contacted Red Box concerning the discovery, the representative did affirm that if Blu-ray was shown, Blu-ray was on the way, though we aren't sure if they'll cost more than the $1 DVD rentals. Keep an eye out at your local kiosk and let us know if you see the same.

[Image courtesy of CashCrater, thanks Mike]

Blockbuster tests movie download service, DVD rental kiosks

by Darren Murph posted Aug 5th 2008 at 10:17PM


As Blockbuster flounders around in an attempt to determine what it really wants to be, we're seeing that it's finally taking advantage of that whole Movielink purchase from last year. A new download section on the company's website has gone live, encouraging XP / Vista users running Internet Explorer (feel alienated yet?) to simply pick a flick, download and watch. In related news, the rental outfit has announced an expanded partnership with NCR that will see 50 DVD rental kiosks deployed in a pilot test, which is separate from the download-only kiosks which are being tested in Dallas, Texas. Anyone tried out the new download service? Do you prefer it more / less than Netflix's Watch Now?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - Blockbuster download service
Read - Blockbuster DVD kiosks

Movie Booth DVD rental kiosks head for UK, Ireland

by Darren Murph posted Jun 20th 2008 at 3:33PM


DVD rental kiosks have been lighting up pharmacies and supermarkets across the US, but it seems that UKers and Irish lads / dames will soon have the great, great privilege of interfacing with Movie Booths in the near future. This particular unit doesn't seem all too different from other variations we've seen, boasting a simple touchscreen display and a built-in android tasked with fetching your selected title and spitting it out for a nominal (read: undisclosed) fee. Apparently, trials have been deemed a success in outlets like Tesco, Centra and Applegreen, thus paving the way to see these pop up everywhere by the year's end. Any chance we'll see a Blu-ray Disc or two popped in there?

[Via Pocket-lint]

DVDPlay to add Blu-ray Discs in movie rental kiosks

by Darren Murph posted May 29th 2008 at 4:38PM


When Blu-ray hits the food mart, you know it has gone big time. DVDPlay just coined itself the "first rental kiosk operator to offer Blu-ray Discs," as it laid out a plan to shove BD flicks into its machines as early as June 10th. Vanilla DVDs will, of course, continue to be offered alongside the newcomers, and best of all, the rental fee for Blu-ray Discs won't be a penny more than what is already charged for DVDs ($1.49). Those with DVDPlay kiosks around can inspect their local machines for Untraceable and Men in Black in under a fortnight, as those two are specifically noted as titles that will likely be offered up early on.

[Via TheManRoom]

Blockbuster expanding Blu-ray dedication across US / Canada

by Darren Murph posted Apr 10th 2008 at 8:34AM


We're not exactly sure what Blockbuster's saying here outside of what's already been said -- after all, the rental chain chose to back Blu-ray eons ago -- but nevertheless, a new release from the company is trumpeting the expansion of Blu-ray all across the US and Canada. As of this week, BD Discs will be available in every single corporate store in the US and Canada (along with select franchise locations), and to entice you further, it's setting up more Blu-ray kiosks featuring a 42-inch HDTV and a PlayStation 3. Additionally, the firm's by-mail service has had a BD preference option added so users can "automatically indicate that they want to receive all available movies in the high-definition format." We certainly dig the sound of that last part.

[Image courtesy of Portfolio]




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