Fox Studio Trying to Pull New DVDs From Redbox Kiosks

Duane

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Maybe if they put out a better product people would buy more DVDs. The economy isn't helping anything either....


http://finance.yahoo.com/family-hom...io-trying-to-pull-new-dvds-from-redbox-kiosks

by Sarah McBride
Thursday, August 6, 2009
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News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox is trying to slow the arrival of its DVDs in low-cost rental kiosks run by Redbox, the studio said Wednesday.

Redbox, a unit of Coinstar Inc., rents DVDs for just $1 a night, which some studios believe is contributing to the slumping DVD sales market. Studio revenue from disc sales to retailers and rental outlets is due to fall by about $850 million to $12.9 billion this year, according to Adams Media Research.

Fox had requested that Redbox keep its movies out of rental kiosks for 30 days, according to a person familiar with the situation. It also offered to continue to make its DVDs available on the official release date if Redbox agreed to better economic terms, such as sharing rental revenue, the person said. Redbox declined the offers.

Now, Fox is instructing its distributors to make its movies available to Redbox only after 30 days.

Fox said it favored the 30-day delay for vending machines in order to protect the "enormous money, creativity, and effort" it invests in its movies, the company said in a statement. A spokeswoman for Redbox didn't immediately have a comment.

Redbox, with kiosks in thousands of supermarkets, convenience stores and other locations, has been on a tear in recent months. This week, it announced it would expand its kiosks into more than 2,000 Kroger supermarkets within the next year.

Last year, Redbox sued General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures after the studio told distributors not to make its movies available to Redbox. The lawsuit is awaiting a federal judge's decision in Delaware. Universal had demanded a 45-day delay before Redbox put its movies into kiosks. Redbox had refused to comply.
 
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