BELLEVUE, WA -- Coinstar Inc., owner of the Redbox chain of DVD rental kiosks, confirmed that it's developing a subscription movie-streaming service that will compete head to head with Netflix.
Redbox president Mitch Lowe said at a meeting with analysts that the subscription-based online service, expected to launch this year, would charge a single monthly fee that would allow users to access movies on multiple devices and access DVDs through its 30,000 kiosks.
The company said late last year that it planned to launch a digital service with a partner, and Lowe told analysts it is close to choosing one. Sources close to the matter say that Amazon.com is in talks with movie studios to secure content for a subscription movie-streaming service set to launch soon, making it a likely candidate to team up with Redbox.
Coinstar's fourth-quarter results fell short of projections as the company underestimated the impact a 28-delay to new Hollywood releases imposed by major studios would have on demand. The company's first-quarter forecast, announced on Feb. 3, also was below analysts' predictions. | SEE STORY
On Feb. 15, the company, which also operates coin-counting machines, announced that it will buy back $50 million of its common stock from Morgan Stanley. | SEE STORY
