NCR To Implement “3-2-1” Pricing at Blockbuster Express Kiosks, Responding to Window Pressures

NCR Entertainment will raise DVD rental prices at its 10,000 Blockbuster Express kiosks nationwide, following a similar move by its competitor Redbox to offset an increase operating costs.

Whereas Coinstar-owned Redbox recently raised its daily DVD rental rate by 20 percent (from $1 to $1.20), NCR will introduce what it calls “3-2-1” pricing for DVD rentals at Blockbuster Express kiosks. DVD titles within their first 28 days of release will cost $3 to rent; after 28 days, the initial rental price shifts to $2, and after 90 days, the first-day price becomes $1. Additional days for all movies will continue to cost $1 plus tax, NCR says. The price increase goes into effect Nov. 8.

While Redbox had cited higher debit-card transaction fees as a reason for its daily price hike, Blockbuster Express attributes its change to a general rise in operating costs. But the price increase tracks movie studios’ ongoing efforts to enforce an exclusive sales window for DVD and Blu-ray titles. Some analysts argue that studios should widen the window to 90 days, from the 28 days of current windowing agreements with rental companies.

In the wake of Netflix’s recent PR debacle over its own price hike, Blockbuster Express is taking pains to sell consumers on the change. “We are making this change based on feedback from our customers as well as to address higher operating costs currently facing the industry,” the company tells customers on a FAQ page. “With this change we are simplifying our pricing structure and clearly defining our portfolio of movie rental options.  We have opted to retain a $1 one night movie rental option, which our customers have told us is important to them.”

In addition, more than 70 percent of a kiosk’s titles will still carry the $1-a-day price, NCR Entertainment general manager Justin Hotard told Bloomberg on Thursday.

Redbox Raises DVD Rental Prices, Citing Rise in Operating Costs

Redbox next week will begin charging $1.20 per day for DVD rentals at most of its 27,800 locations nationwide, following tests of the higher price point this past summer.

The 20 percent price hike “is based on an increase in operating costs, including higher debit card fees that went into effect October 1,” Redbox tells customers in an announcement on its website. The amount, Redbox says, “was selected to best offset expenses, while keeping our value commitment to customers.”

Whether Redbox’s price hike impacts customer behavior remains to be seen. As GigaOm points out, Coinstar investors had expected Redbox revenues to rise following the outcry over Netflix’s recent price changes. But with Coinstar reporting third-quarter revenue that was only slightly above analyst expectations, it is unclear whether Netflix’s subscriber losses during the third quarter translated into customer gains for Redbox. (The division continues to grow in general, having earned $1 billion in the first nine months of 2011, according to Coinstar.)

During the company’s test of the $1.20 price point in August, one analyst predicted that few Redbox DVD renters would balk at the increase. But the hike could lead to customers renting fewer DVDs, or renting discs for fewer days, analyst Eric Wold of Merriman Capital acknowledged in his August note.

In any event, the increase is unlikely to placate studio executives such as Time Warner’s Jeff Bewkes, who contend that Redbox’s pricing model devalues studio content.

Rentals of Blu-ray discs and video games remain at their current rates ($1.50 per day and $2 per day, respectively).

In a concurrent effort to drive traffic to its website, Redbox is launching a month-long promotion under which customers can reserve DVD rentals online for $1 for the first day. Customers pick up the reserved discs at their local kiosks.

Netflix Lowers Subscriber Expectations for Discs-By-Mail, Streaming Services

When Netflix announced its intention to split its discs-by mail and streaming video services in the U.S. into separate subscription plans, the company estimated that 3 million of its customers would subscribe solely to the discs-by-mail service by the end of the third quarter (Sept. 30). At the time, Netflix also said its newly created discs-by-mail division would help ensure that the company’s DVD business remained “as healthy as possible for as many years as possible.”

Today — two weeks after Netflix’s service changes and concomitant price increases went into effect — the company announced that it was lowering its starting subscriber expectations for its new discs-only service as well as its streaming-only plan in the U.S.

Netflix cut its end-of-quarter projection of discs-only subscribers by 26.7 percent, from 3 million to 2.2 million. The company also trimmed the number of U.S. subscribers projected to opt for its streaming-only service to 9.8 million, from an original expectation of 10 million.

Netflix still expects 12 million of its U.S. customers will subscribe to both its discs-by-mail and streaming services by the end of September. The company also left unchanged its financial guidance for the third quarter.

In a Sept. 15 note to shareholders, Netflix intimated that customer pushback on the price hikes prompted the company’s guidance revisions. In defending its splitting of services as “the right long-term strategic choice,” the company reiterated its four key objectives:

“(1) to create a dedicated DVD rental division that takes pride in great execution and maximizes the opportunity for disc rental over the coming decade;

“(2) to enable us to improve our global streaming service even more rapidly, because it is not meshed with a domestic DVD business;

“(3) to enable us, with the growth in revenue, to license more streaming content and thereby improve our streaming service even more;

“(4) to remain very price aggressive, with $7.99 per month for unlimited streaming of a huge library of TV shows and movies, and $7.99 per month for unlimited DVD rentals, 1 out at-a-time.”

Netflix plans to share more on its third-quarter performance in October.

More at All Things Digital and GigaOm.

Lionsgate Remains With Redbox

The Lionsgate studio has elected not to opt out of its DVD and Blu-ray licensing agreement with Redbox, reports Redbox parent company Coinstar in an Aug. 8 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Lionsgate continues to make its new DVD and Blu-ray titles available to Redbox day and date with their sell-through release. The agreement between the two companies, originally stuck in 2009, runs through August, 2014.

Commenting on the news, analyst Eric Wold of Merriman Capital noted that major studios including Paramount, Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. each have rights to opt out of their Redbox licensing agreements in the coming months (via Home Media Magazine). But Wold said he “would be surprised if there were any changes to the existing agreements,” as Redbox has risen to a more prominent position in the marketplace for physical disc rentals. As of the end of the second quarter, Redbox was recording an average of 55 million rental transactions a month from 27,800 locations nationwide.

Netflix Splits DVD, Streaming Plans

Under Netflix’s modified pricing plans, customers who want both DVDs and streaming videos will pay $15.98 a month. But unlimited DVD rentals, like streaming-only service, will be available as a $7.99-a-month subscription — in what the company says is a renewed focus on the DVDs-by-mail market.

Previously, Netflix offered a combination plan for $9.99 a month, as it touted the growth of its streaming service. “Given the long life we think DVDs by mail will have, treating DVDs as a $2 add on to our unlimited streaming plan neither makes great financial sense nor satisfies people who just want DVDs,” says Jessie Becker, Netflix’s vice president of marketing, in a corporate blog post. “Creating an unlimited DVDs by mail plan (no streaming) at our lowest price ever, $7.99, does make sense and will ensure a long life for our DVDs by mail offering.”

Becker adds that Netflix also is establishing a separate management team for its DVDs-by-mail business, led by Andy Rendich, the company’s chief service and operations officer.

The price changes take effect on Sept. 1 for existing subscribers. More on Netflix’s move at the Los Angeles Times.

Rentrak Adds Anderson Merchandisers for Disc Rentals

Through an agreement with Rentrak’s revenue-sharing program for video stores, Anderson Merchandisers will begin offering DVD and Blu-ray rental titles from film and video distributor Arc Entertainment. The  deal coincides with Anderson adding a dedicated sales and marketing team to its new third party licensing business.

“As Anderson Merchandisers expands into licensed content distribution, initially with Arc Entertainment, working with Rentrak to reach key retailers in the rental market was a top priority,” says Mathew Smith, Anderson’s SVP of video purchasing, who added that the program will enable the company to stock more rental DVDs and Blu-ray discs in multiple retail locations.

Last week, Rentrak announced lower-than-expected earnings for its fourth fiscal quarter (ended March 31), with weak rental titles pulling the company’s home entertainment business down 14% year-over-year (via The Wall Street Journal).

More on the revenue-sharing agreement at Home Media Magazine.

Walmart Seeks to Settle Consumer Antitrust Suit Over DVD Pact with Netflix

Walmart may pay as much as $40 million in store gift cards to members of a class-action lawsuit alleging the retail giant colluded with Netflix to reduce competition in the DVD business (via paidContent).

The suit was originally filed in a Washington federal court in 2009 by a Seattle-area Netflix subscriber. It is now in a federal court in Oakland, Calif., where presiding judge Phyllis J. Hamilton granted class-action certification to the plaintiffs (via the Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg).

The suit claims that Netflix and Walmart ran afoul of antitrust laws in 2005 when they agreed to steer clear of each other’s DVD business as part of a cross-promotion deal. Netflix stopped selling previously viewed discs, while Walmart ended its own DVDs-by-mail rental service (which, according to estimates at the time, had attracted as many as 200,000 subscribers). The agreement, according to the suit, effectively eliminated downward price pressures on DVD sales and rental services, to the detriment of DVD consumers.

Interestingly, reports of the Netflix-Walmart agreement voiced no collusion concerns when the deal was announced: see, e.g., the New York Times’ write-up from May 2005. But current market conditions — a soaring stock valuation for Netflix, as Blockbuster plods through bankruptcy — have seemingly thrown the 2005 deal into an antitrust relief for the press. The Huffington Post, for example, headlines the deal as a “conspiracy.”

Today’s market is more nuanced than disc rentals and sales. Retailers from Walmart itself (through its Vudu subsidiary) to Sears (through a new unit called Alphaline Entertainment, via The Atlantic) aim to compete against Netflix in streaming movies and videos direct to home computers and TVs.

Netflix, for its part, reportedly plans to continue defending itself in the class-action suit despite Walmart’s settlement. The case is Magee v. Netflix Inc. et al., 4:09-cv-01793, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (Oakland).

Digital Distribution Edges Blu-ray In First Half

Digital distribution platforms for home entertainment (including video-on-demand) outpaced Blu-ray Disc in consumer spending during the first half of 2010, passing the $1 billion mark for the first time, according to new figures released by DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group.

Electronic sell-through increased up 37% year-over-year to $285 million between January and June, as video-on-demand (VOD) rose 19% to $865 million, for a combined growth of 23% to $1.1 billion.

Sales and rentals of Blu-ray discs, reached a combined total of $982 million for the six-month period. Blu-ray sell-through increased 84% year-over-year to $733 million during the half.

Blu-ray disc shipments topped 77 million units in the first half of 2010, nearly double the number of the comparable period in 2009, according to figures compiled by Swicker & Associates on behalf of the DEG. Household penetration of all Blu-ray compatible devices, including set-top players, PC drives and PlayStation 3 consoles, has now reached 19.4 million U.S. homes.

Overall consumer spending for the first half of 2010 in the home entertainment window for pre-recorded entertainment — which includes DVD, Blu-ray Disc and digital distribution — reached $8.8 billion, off 3% compared to the same period in 2009. Yet consumer transactions for home entertainment products were up 2% for the first half of the year, DEG says.

Packaged media sell-through, which includes DVD and Blu-ray Disc, declined 7% year-over-year during the half. But the rate of decline slowed to 3% during the second quarter.

Rental spending was down nearly 5% to about $3 billion between January and June, says DEG (citing Rentrak Corp.’s Home Video Essentials). The trade group faults Movie Gallery store closures for the decline, while noting that kiosk revenues increased 55% during the six-month period.

Redbox Testing Higher Price Points For DVD Rentals

While it tests videogames and Blu-ray discs at kiosk locations in several markets, Redbox is elsewhere researching the potential implications of price hikes on its DVD rentals. Via The Hollywood Reporter: DVD price-point tests are underway at Redbox kiosks Albuquerque, NM ($1.50 a night), Modesto, CA ($1.25), San Diego ($1.25), Spokane, WA ($1.15), and Miami/West Palm Beach, FL ($1.15).

Redbox, Offering Free DVD Rentals Via Facebook, Tops 1 Million Followers

Thousands of Facebook members were signing up today for a free Monday-night movie rental from Redbox, as the video renter’s profile on the social network topped 1 million followers. Home Media Magazine has the details of the free-rental offer, which runs for  June 21 only. Redbox’s Facebook page also offers a code for another free night’s rental when users rent two movies simultaneously.

EntertainmentXpress Deploys First Kiosks In Pizza Hut Restaurants

DVD kiosk start-up EntertainmentXpress says it has begun to roll out its first machines in Pennsylvania and Florida Pizza Hut locations operated by franchisee Aurora Huts LLC. The deal, first announced in March, is one of several that EntertainmentXpress has with regional fast-food restaurants. Via MarketWatch

Disney’s Iger: No Cannibalization Of DVD Sales From Redbox

Speaking at an investor conference in New York yesterday, Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger said that the discounts rival home entertainment companies give to Redbox (in exchange for 28-day windows on new releases) would be unacceptable to his studio. “Selling [Redbox] units at a 50 percent reduction in cost, or whatever the proposition, even for the 28-day window was not an equation that made sense to us,” Iger said. Disney, whose “Alice in Wonderland” is the top-grossing film of 2010 to date, surprised analysts by not striking a windowing deal with Redbox ahead of the DVD’s June 1 release. By Bloomberg (via Business Week)

Netflix Still Puts DVD Peak At 2013

GigaOM’s NewTeeVee yesterday posted slides from a Netflix corporate deck that project the renter’s DVD-by-mail shipments will peak in 2013. The real news here is that the streaming market seems to be proceeding exactly according to Netflix’s plans. The company’s DVD-peak projection remains the same as it was in May 2008, when the Roku streaming set-top box was brand new. By NewTeeVee

Pepsi, Kroger Back Year-Long Redbox Promotion

Shoppers at Kroger supermarkets receive a free one-night DVD rental from a Redbox kiosk when they purchase three Pepsi or Frito-Lay products, in a 52-week cross-promotion between the three companies.

The “Make It A Move Night” promotion is similar to campaigns that Redbox has run with other supermarket chains, as it seeks to introduce the kiosk-rental concept to more consumers. But as the Redbox tells MediaPost, the PepsiCo-Kroger program sets a new bar in scale and duration. Kroger operates some 2,400 stores under various banners in 31 states. By MediaPost

Correction Re: Redbox ROI

We misquoted the Home Media Magazine article on Coinstar’s Redbox kiosk ROI in our Wednesday edition. Coinstar CEO Paul Davis said earlier this week that a typical Redbox kiosk is pulling in $50,000 by its third year in operation, not the third month as we reported. Full article here.

Redbox Toasts Manufacture Of Its 25,000th Machine

Redbox marks the production of its 25,000th kiosk today at the Creedmoor, NC facility of Flextronics, its kiosk manufacturer. “Flextronics is an important partner and their flexibility and responsiveness have greatly contributed to our ability to meet aggressive installation goals as demand for our low-cost DVD rental service has grown,” says Redbox president Mitch Lowe. The rental service currently has a presence in 21,600 locations throughout the U.S. Via PR Newswire

Redbox Delivers For Coinstar

Wall Street is loving Coinstar following news that revenues at the company’s Redbox kiosk business increased 70% during the first quarter. Coinstar also upped its full-year guidance on the prospects of robust rental business. By TheStreet.com

Netflix: Streaming Drives Q1 Growth

“It is clear that our performance, and the overall appeal of the Netflix service, is being driven by subscribers watching instantly,” said Netflix’s Reed Hastings in delivering the company’s first-quarter earnings April 21. Netflix says that 55 percent of its subscribers have streamed a movie or TV show via the DVD renter’s “Watch Instantly” service.

In response to an analyst question during the company’s earnings call (transcript via Seeking Alpha), Hastings said Netflix was “seeing some substitution of DVD rental for streaming” among subscribers.

Netflix ended the quarter of 2010 with nearly 14 million subscribers, a 35 percent year-over-year increase, and a 14 percent increase from the fourth quarter.

On whether Netflix has seen any indication of subscriber response to its new 28-day windows for some new releases, Hastings said, “Our indication is our record low churn [of 3.8 percent].”

As to quantifying subscriber behavior regarding delayed availability of “The Blind Side” – the first major title subject to Netflix’s window agreement with Warner Bros. – Hastings mused that some subscribers purchased the DVD at retail or watched the film via pay-per-view services during the 28-day period. But he acknowledged a “pent-up demand” from subscribers to rent the film.

Hastings said there “is a little bit of guesswork” in determining how many DVDs will satisfy demand for windowed films. “We are still learning together with Warner Brothers how to predict that.” Via Seeking Alpha

SoCal Startup Opening Chain Of ‘Automated’ Video Stores

The first “Movie>Q” outlet in Westminster, CA rents DVDs for $1 per day from 55-foot long “automated inventory management” systems that hold up to 15,000 discs and are accessible via eight terminals. Home Media Magazine reports that Point.360, the company behind the Movie>Q concept, plans to additional outlets in Costa Mesa and La Mirada, CA. By Home Media Magazine

Blockbuster Kiosks To Sell New-Release DVDs

NCR will expand beyond film rentals with its Blockbuster-branded kiosks in July, stepping up competition with Coinstar’s Redbox by selling newly released DVDs, reports Bloomberg. The company also is in talks with film studios to offer $2-a-day rentals on new releases through the dispensers, double the current $1 rate. By Bloomberg (via Business Week)

Redbox Expands In Middle America

The DVD kiosk company announces an agreement with regional convenience store chain Kum & Go to install movie rental machines in 281 outlets this year. Redbox kiosks are currently installed at 26 Kum & Go stores in Iowa, Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Via PR Newswire

Studios Deal For First Lien On Blockbuster Canada Assets

Continuing its efforts to avoid bankruptcy, Blockbuster has secured new payment terms from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, and Warner Home Video. In exchange, the studios receive a first lien on assets of the chain’s Canada subsidiary. As with Blockbuster’s previously announced rental deal with Warner, Fox and Sony also provide new-release movies for rental via the chain’s stores and by-mail channel day-and-date with the movies’ availability for purchase. Via PR Newswire

Relativity Drops MGM Bid; Valuation Of Library At Issue

In its analysis of why MGM has a slim chance of netting $2 billion for its 4,000-title library, TheWrap relates a fresh data point from the continually evolving home entertainment business. At ShoWest March 16, Sony Pictures Chairman/CEO Michael Lynton stated that DVD revenues have shifted to a 75 percent rental/25 percent purchase model, from a 60/40 split a few years ago. By TheWrap

Blockbuster Mulls Bankruptcy, Looks To Outsource Main Distribution Center

For the second time in a year, Blockbuster is warning that it may have to file for bankruptcy protection under mounting debt and ever-increasing market pressure from competitors. The Wall Street Journal has a write-up of the details.

In the same round of March 16 regulatory filings as its bankruptcy mention, Blockbuster stated that it is looking to outsource operations at its largest distribution center in McKinney, TX, which employs 910 people and primarily stocks company-owned stores. Details at Home Media Magazine.

NCR Rolling Out More Blockbuster Express DVD Kiosks

Sheetz, a closely held, Altoona, PA-based chain that has marched southward as it expands, is adding the movie-rental kiosks at nearly all 365 locations. The rollout is one of the biggest so far in NCR’s efforts to have some 10,000 kiosks operating by year end through its partnership with Blockbuster. The current number is about 4,000. By The Wall Street Journal

NCR Integrates Blockbuster Kiosks With Consumer Website

NCR Corp. March 11 said it has upgraded the Blockbuster Express Web site so consumers can now rent online up to three DVD movies at a time and pick up at the nearest kiosk – a first among self-serve vendors. NCR is manufacturing and installing 10,000 Blockbuster Express DVD rental kiosks in the U.S. this year through a license agreement with Blockbuster. By Home Media Magazine

Prosecutor Says He Will Not Go After Kiosks

Earlier this week, reports had surfaced that video store owners had convinced a county prosecutor in Indiana to send warning letters to retailers who gave space to Redboxes and other DVD kiosks. The letters reportedly stated that the kiosks’ offering of PG-13 and R rated movies could put the retailers in violation of criminal statutes as the kiosks gave minors easy access to harmful material.

The prosecutor, Stan Levco, had been weighing whether to file suit. But as Evansville, IN-based newscaster WFIE reports, Levco now says that a trial against kiosk companies “would be a waste of his resources and that a non-guilty verdict would be returned.” By WFIE

Some On Wall Street Wonder If Netflix Has Peaked

Some analysts didn’t know what to do with themselves on March 2 when the share price of the Web’s top movie rental service shot past their performance expectations. Sure, Netflix continues to return boffo earnings, but after the company’s share price hit $70, some brokers took a hard look at Netflix’s prospects for the future, according to a MarketWatch story. By CNET

Netflix CFO: DVD Rental Shipments to Increase 18% in 2010

Despite the hyped migration toward digital distribution, Netflix expects DVD rental shipments this year to increase 18%. Speaking at separate investor events Feb. 25 and March 1 in San Francisco, CFO Barry McCarthy said packaged-media rentals grew double digits in 2009, while there was 127% year-over-year growth in streaming of at least 15 minutes per month. By Home Media Magazine

DVD Kiosk Vendor NCR Mulling Digital Expansion

NCR Corp., the company that owns Blockbuster’s movie-rental vending machines, will consider acquisitions to expand into digital and mail-in movie rentals, CEO Bill Nuti told Bloomberg Feb. 23. NCR says its entertainment business will reach as much as $150 million in sales this year. Via BusinessWeek

Blockbuster Hires Restructuring Advisers

Ahead of Blockbuster’s release of fourth-quarter financials Feb. 24, The Wall Street Journal reported that the chain has brought on law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges and investment bank Rothschild Inc. to look at ways to reduce its roughly $1 billion debt load and explore other strategies, such as acquisitions or partnerships. By The Wall Street Journal

Fox Answers Redbox, Repeats Call For Dismissal

In its latest court filings in its litigation with Redbox, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment asserts that the kiosk operator has yet to prove the studio violated antitrust laws when it called for distributors to keep new release DVDs away from Redbox for 28 days after street date. The studio asked Feb. 8 for oral arguments regarding its motion to dismiss the case. By Home Media Magazine

Households That Watch More Online Video Also Rent More DVDs: Research

Despite the growing amount of video available online, less than 8 percent of U.S. broadband households are considering canceling their pay-TV services in favor of online video, according to research firm Parks Associates.

The firm’s “All Eyes on Video” report is in line with previous Parks Associates studies, which do not show an appreciable likelihood of subscriber churn in favor of online video services. A 2008 study reported 11 percent of U.S. broadband households were considering canceling pay-TV services, and in an earlier 2009 survey, the number was 10 percent.

Approximately 5.5 million homes would be open to canceling pay TV due in part to the availability of online video, according to the new report. At the same time, one-half of these households are also considering a switch to a new pay-TV provider, indicating the primary threats to companies such as Verizon, Comcast, DirecTV, and Cablevision are still their traditional competitors.

The households likely to switch or cancel their services watch a 10 hours of online video each week, much higher than typical video consumers. They express strong interest in having online access to pay-TV channels (e.g., TV Everywhere), which highlights an opportunity for traditional pay-TV providers to solidify their base through the deployment of such features. Offline video consumption is also higher. Their median number of DVD rentals from the last six months is 18, compared to two rentals among other households.

“The threat of cannibalization is real but misunderstood,” says John Barrett, Director of Research, Parks Associates. “Nobody is going to rely on online video alone — households likely to cancel their TV services are going to use a mixture of online video, free-to-air broadcasts, and DVDs, including rental services such as Netflix and redbox.” By Parks Associates

DVD Quantity Limits From Wal-Mart, Target To Hinder Redbox?

New quantity limits imposed by Wal-Mart and Target on the purchase of new release DVD movies affect 40% of rental kiosk offerings, including market leader Redbox, according to an analyst. Wal-Mart spokesperson Melissa O’Brien Jan. 27 confirmed the world’s largest retailer had imposed single purchase limits on new release DVD movies to five copies for the first 28 days of the title’s release. By Home Media Magazine

Redbox Stops Stocking New Releases With Low Box Offices: Analyst

The $1 DVD rental kiosk operator, which sued Warner, Fox and Universal after they imposed nearly month-long embargoes on new releases to kiosks, had vowed to stock the studios’ titles by acquiring them via third-party retailers such as Wal-Mart. But the extra legwork and cost involved in getting movies from studios with which Redbox does not have distribution agreements has apparently become a prohibitive strategy, says Merriman Curhan Ford analyst Eric Wold. By Home Media Magazine

Netflix: We’ll Still Be Shipping DVDs In 2030

“Pretty soon, we’re going to be a streaming business that rents some DVDs,” said Netflix chief Reed Hastings in a CES keynote interview with All Things Digital. But Hastings gives the DVD another 20 years, projecting it will take that long for Netflix to get out of the disc-shipping business altogether. By All Things Digital

Rentrak: DVD, Blu-ray Rentals Up 4% In ’09

U.S. consumer spending on DVD and Blu-ray rentals rose 4.1% to $6.5 billion in 2009, according to Rentrak’s Home Video Essentials, which collects point-of-sale data. During the year, kiosk revenue grew 94%, with the Redbox-dominated channel approaching $1 billion in revenue. Kiosk rentals were more than enough to offset a 3.2% decline in rentals from brick-and-mortar outlets such as Blockbuster and online sectors. By Variety

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