DVDPlay starts kiosk movie-rental promotion
No. 3 kiosk operator looks to gain on Redbox, Moviecube
By Danny King -- Video Business, 4/16/2008
APRIL 16 | DVDPlay unveiled a program that gives repeat customers of its movie kiosks free film rentals as part of an effort to compete against larger U.S. kiosk operators Redbox and Moviecube.
Renters of 10 DVDPlay movies will get the 11th free, closely held DVDPlay said in a statement yesterday. The machines track the number of movie rentals by asking renters to provide their e-mail addresses, where the company will send promotional codes enabling the free film.
DVDPlay, which houses about 90% of its approximately 1,400 U.S. kiosks in supermarkets such as Safeway and Albertsons, plans to more than double its machines to about 3,200 by the end of the year.
U.S. kiosk sales, led by Redbox’s approximately 7,400 machines, will triple to $800 million in 2010, while chain-store rental revenue, estimated at $5.4 billion last year, will fall to $3.1 billion by 2010, Convergence Consulting Group said in a report this month.
“We are thrilled with the success we’ve enjoyed over the past year, and we want to give back to those who helped us get here,” said DVDPlay CEO Chuck Berger, who last November estimated that kiosks would account for as much as 25% of U.S. DVD rental market share within three years.
Founded in 2002, DVDPlay, which doesn’t disclose annual revenue, ranks third in units behind Redbox, owned almost entirely by McDonald’s and CoinStar, and Moviecube, which is owned by closely held The New Release.
