Movie Rental Services

There are basically six technology-driven threats to the traditional rental model: (1) Cable companies offering Video on Demand (VOD), (2) online movie downloads, (3) online movie rentals, (4) disposable DVDs, (5) illegal movie downloads and DVD copying, and (6) Digital (or Personal) video recorders (DVR). (Jackson) One could also consider traditional pay-per-view (PPV) as and additional substitute. Only one of these seven, online movie rentals has proven to be a major competitive substitute for traditional movie rentals. All other areas, except traditional pay-per-view are expanding rapidly, but some face significant challenges.

The movie rental industry is a living industry; there are constant changes with advances in technology, rights management, and the slow, but steady, move away from physical Media. Companies such as Netflix, Hulu, RedBox, and Blockbuster are being forced to look at new business models and try to keep up with these changes.

Blockbuster implemented a new strategy for customers to access their rentals in “five channels of distribution: in-store, by mail, through vending machines and kiosks, online, and at home (direct to the TV)” (DATAMONITOR, 2009). However, this strategy was a reactive approach to the problem produced ten years behind schedule. Wooldridge et al., (2007) stated that Blockbuster should select and adapt their strategy to respond to the fast changing market and maintain a competitive position. This was an obvious failure for Blockbuster. The changes in the market produced a decline in profit at a faster pace than the strategies that Blockbuster implemented to combat these losses.

There are a lot of strong competitors: Blockbuster, Apple, Red box, and etc… Beside, product in this industry is not differentiated. On the other hand, the products and services are not difficult to imitate. This market is very competitive.

Blockbuster was “the largest movie rental chain” in the Movies industry around the world (Biesada a). According to Rourke, Rothburd and Stansell (2006), Blockbuster mainly focused on “providing in-home rental, retail movie, and game entertainment”. It created 9,100 video stores and provided services to almost three million of customers in America and 24 other countries (p. 74). In 2010, the company filed for bankruptcy since it failed to adapt new technology in their strategies, and “was sold to satellite TV service provider DISH Network in 2011” (Biesada b).

Blockbuster Entertainment, Inc. was once a highly successful and profitable brick and mortar home movie and video game rental store. At its peak in 2004, Blockbuster had up to 60,000 employees and more than 9,000 stores. The idea behind Netflix came from an unsatisfied, embarrassed customer of Blockbuster, Mr. Reed Hastings, now CEO of Netflix, paid a $40 late fee because he returned the movie Apollo 13 six weeks later (Zarafshar, 2013). He began to contemplate ingeniously about a notion to change the movie-leasing pattern into a more pioneering industry. In 1997 Netflix was started as a DVD rental-by-mail business without subscriptions. In 1999, taking a stride additional in the direction of evolving the industry, Hastings began the subscription-based business mode based on renting DVDs by mail with plans reliant on the quantity of titles taken at a time. Netflix put forward 120,000 titles for limitless monthly DVD rental with free shipping no late and per title fees. Since that time Netflix has become one of the most popular subscription services in the world, and is now valued at over $28 billion and steadily increasing. What factors contributed to the success and failure of these two companies?

The main suppliers for the Redbox and other movie rental business are the movie production houses which own the copyrights of the movies produced by them. Three major studio houses 20th Century Fox, Warner Brox and Universal separately refused to sell DVDs to Redbox atleast 28 days after their arrival in stores. Other major studio houses, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Lionsgate signed distribution deals with Redbox. Since Redbox’s business model largely relies on new releases, “windowing” of new releases by the three studios may make Redbox’s business model unviable. Redbox responded by filing lawsuits with three claims against these companies - copyright misuse, tortuous interference and antitrust claims. In August 2009, a federal judge rejected the first 2 claims but allowed the antitrust claim to continue. Earlier this year, Redbox dismissed the lawsuits and reached and agreement

The success of Netflix forced Blockbuster to see the growing popularity of rent-by-mail formats. In 2003 Blockbuster launched a rental subscription program, which would allow subscribers to rent an unlimited number of movies during the subscription period like Netflix, but with Blockbuster there was no waiting for movies to arrive. Blockbuster also fine-tuned its rental program and introduced a no-late-fee policy to compete against the growing number of subscribers to online rental companies. In 2004 Blockbuster

Redbox is an easy way to rent and watch DVDs, Blu-Ray Discs and Video Games via automated kiosk or electronic device based streaming video. Kiosks are located at select fast food restaurants, grocery stores and convenience stores. Each Redbox kiosk holds approximately 630 DVDs/Blu-ray Discs/Video Games. DVDs rent for $1.20 per day, Blu-ray discs at $1.50 per day

There are many different factors in the environment that influence Redbox Automated Retail. These factors include: general business ethics, United States copyright laws, the economic recession, unemployment, increased consumer debt levels, declining consumer confidence and spending, new technological advances, natural disasters, and content acquisition and license agreements. Although the previously listed factors each hold a certain degree of importance, the most relevant factors include new technological advances, content acquisition, and license agreements. The advancement in technology, such as digital access to movies via the internet, allows customers the convenience to access films directly from their home which weakens the consumer demand for DVD’s. Furthermore, content acquisition and licensing arrangements restrict the amount of titles that are available to Redbox resulting in litigation battles with large movie studios.

untouchable and we were all doomed to a lifetime of late fees and limited movie

Blockbuster was too confident in their brand and their reach that failed to see the threat from the online rental business, meanwhile Netflix took advantage of their slow entrance to build a market and leverage on growing technology (DVD) that took off really quickly.

Competition in the Movie Rental Industry in 2008: Netflix and Blockbuster Battle for Market Leadership

Before the advent of movie rental stores, to watch a new movie, people had to go to theatres or cinemas spending a lot of money. Video rental was the answer to the new needs. Since the 90s, video rental industry has become a very big business; in those years, rental prices rose as more and more people began renting movies. At the same time, new players entered the market creating strong competition inside the industry. In the last years, the field of home entertainment has changed dramatically because of the presence of Internet and new technologies (Recorded DVD & Video in the United States, 2009).

With the introduction of new technologies and the development of electronics products, people are now having more opportunities to view movies. However, home viewing is still the most popular way of watching movies. Accordingly, Movie rental has become an industry. This essay will give a detailed analysis of the global leader in the movie rental industry, Blockbuster.