James Delahunty
17 Jun 2010 21:30
Think back a few months to a fight that took place between Redbox and the major Hollywood studios. Hollywood execs were all hot and bothered about how Redbox kiosk's cheap $1 movie rentals were cannibalizing new DVD and Blu-ray sales, and decided to order their wholesale distributors not to sell to Redbox for a month or more after the initial release.
Redbox launched some legal action in response and decided to buy directly from retailers to stock kiosks as a workaround. However, that came crashing down for Redbox when Wal-Mart and other retailers imposed limits on the number of units of the same film a single customer can buy from them. Long story short, Redbox ended signing deals with Fox, Universal and Warner Bros. that required a 28-day window before Redbox kiosks could offer new titles for rental.
Paramount however decided to actually test whether or not the availability of new titles from rent from Redbox kiosks affects the sales of new DVD or Blu-ray releases. It signed a deal with Redbox in August 2009 which would allow it to stock new releases on the same day as the title comes out on Blu-ray and DVD. Redbox agreed at the time to share rental data with Paramount so that it could evaluate the potential benefits of a longer-term contract.
Following the 10-month analysis of DVD sell-through and renal performance, Paramount and Redbox announced on Tuesday that Paramount had extended its revenue sharing license agreement, providing Redbox access to Paramount DVD and Blu-ray titles to rent on the same day they are released in the sell-through market.
"After analyzing the data from our test period we have concluded that Redbox day-and-date rental activity has had minimal impact on our DVD sales," said Dennis Maguire, Worldwide President of Paramount Home Entertainment.
"By granting redbox day-and-date availability we are allowing the consumer a choice of how to consume our movies while maximizing the profitability of our releases in the home entertainment window. We are looking forward to continuing a productive and mutually beneficial relationship with Redbox."
"We are delighted to continue our relationship with Paramount to provide consumers with convenient, timely and affordable access to their favorite movies," said Mitch Lowe, President, Redbox. "We look forward to supporting Paramount movie releases through joint marketing programs. This arrangement is a win, win and win - for consumers, Paramount and Redbox."