Blockbuster cuts kiosk rental prices

PHYSICAL: NCR-operated machines will still charge $2/night for Blu-ray

By Danny King -- Video Business, 6/30/2009

JUNE 30 | PHYSICAL: Blockbuster and NCR last week cut rental prices on their first Blockbuster Express self-serve movie-rental kiosks to $1 a night in a move that matches the price of standard-definition discs at kiosk leader Redbox. Blockbuster Express machines will still charge $2 a night for Blu-ray rentals when the high-definition discs are stocked in the machines.

Blockbuster Express kiosks had been charging $1.99 for the first night for a DVD, then $1 a night thereafter until June 24, when first-night prices were cut to $1, according to NCR spokesman Jeff Dudash. Neither NCR nor Blockbuster are disclosing how many machines are in service or where they’re located.

“After a careful review of our pilot, we determined that $1 a day made the most sense for our customers at this time,” Dudash said.

Although Dudash said Blockbuster Express will charge $2 a night for Blu-ray discs, he didn’t say when the kiosks would offer high-definition titles.

Late last year, Redbox started stocking some of its kiosks in Walmart locations with Blu-ray discs, charging the same $1 nightly rental fee it charges for standard-definition discs.

U.S. movie-rental leader Blockbuster and ATM-making giant NCR, which launched its kiosk-making partnership last year, plan to have more than 3,000 kiosks in service by the end of the year and as many as 10,000 by the end of 2010. Redbox, a unit of coin-exchange machine operator Coinstar, had more than 15,000 kiosks in service at the end of March with plans to have as many as 22,000 by the end of the year.

In April, NCR bought the majority stake in kiosk operator TNR/MovieCube that it didn’t already own in a move to speed up the Blockbuster Express expansion effort.