Verizon and Redbox Create Service to Challenge Netflix
The latest challenger to Netflix has emerged, and it is actually a combination of two companies whose services may work very well together.
Netflix has enjoyed a steady climb recently in its stock price, as investors seem willing to assume that the company has plenty of room to grow before upstart services start to chip away at its subscriber base. With the likes of Amazon, Google and Apple all sure to find a way to compete in the distribution of streaming content, none of those companies has produced the type of service that has captured the imagination of the masses - yet. But while those behemoths continue to tweak their service models, a new challenger has developed for Netflix - and it combines the services of Verizon's FiOS TV and Coinstar's Redbox DVD and Blu-Ray kiosks.
Verizon and Redbox will offer a subscriber-based service that starts at about $6 per month, and will include streaming movies from FiOS as well as DVD rentals from Redbox. It's unclear exactly what the limitations will be for account holders, or how and where accounts will be set up and managed.
Obviously, the combination of the streaming content from FiOS with the physical DVD rental ability of Redbox offers users nearly the same experience that they would get from the dual Netflix service, which is currently priced at about $16 per month.
The service is expected to launch in the second half of this year and analysts are already questioning what level of content will be available on the FiOS side of the equation. FiOS already allows users to download content, but it's primarily in a pay-per-view format that can be prohibitively expensive if a user watches more than a few movies per month. But given Verizon's existing relationship with most premium content creators, the company may have an advantage in negotiating licensing fees. In any event, the increasing competition in the marketplace should ultimately prove beneficial to consumers.
Verizon and Redbox will offer a subscriber-based service that starts at about $6 per month, and will include streaming movies from FiOS as well as DVD rentals from Redbox. It's unclear exactly what the limitations will be for account holders, or how and where accounts will be set up and managed.
Obviously, the combination of the streaming content from FiOS with the physical DVD rental ability of Redbox offers users nearly the same experience that they would get from the dual Netflix service, which is currently priced at about $16 per month.
The service is expected to launch in the second half of this year and analysts are already questioning what level of content will be available on the FiOS side of the equation. FiOS already allows users to download content, but it's primarily in a pay-per-view format that can be prohibitively expensive if a user watches more than a few movies per month. But given Verizon's existing relationship with most premium content creators, the company may have an advantage in negotiating licensing fees. In any event, the increasing competition in the marketplace should ultimately prove beneficial to consumers.
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