Redbox, the video rental company turned OTT TV aggregator and streaming service provider, has now struck a major distribution deal with Lionsgate, the Canadian-American entertainment group. The multiyear deal will see Lionsgate distribute Redbox content across home entertainment windows, as well as handle SVOD licensing for select Redbox titles. Additionally, Redbox will license films from Lionsgate’s 17,000-title library for its ad-supported streaming service and free ad-supported television (FAST) channels.
“Lionsgate’s longstanding partnership with Redbox has created significant value for both our companies,” said Ron Schwartz, Lionsgate President of Worldwide Distribution, Motion Picture Group. “That collaboration has evolved into a multifaceted distribution relationship across home entertainment, SVOD and AVOD platforms that allows us to continue to diversify our content offering to our consumers.”
This year has shown that Redbox has serious ambitions of becoming a major D2C player. Earlier this month, Redbox reached a content deal with WarnerMedia, to bring titles to its AVOD service on a monthly basis. The WarnerMedia titles will include The Astronaut’s Wife, Collateral Damage, and The Long Kiss Goodnight. Redbox’s AVOD service will also platform select Sony Pictures Television films, including Resident Evil: Retribution, Underworld: Evolution, We Own the Night, and Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning.
“WarnerMedia and Sony Pictures both have amazing film catalogs which our audience will enjoy for hours on end, and they will be completely free,” said Galen Smith, CEO of Redbox. “We look forward to growing the number of films offered through our AVOD streaming service from both studios in the coming months.”
In October, Redbox completed its merger with Seaport Acquisition Corp. – a publicly traded special acquisition company – and as a result, became a publicly traded company with access to $88 million in cash. The company now has over 100 FAST channels and only last month reached an agreement with Cox Media Group to stream 10 live local news channels, from markets that include Seattle, Atlanta and Orlando. The company has said it will continue to expand out its roster of FAST channels over the next few months.
Despite facing fierce competition in the D2C arena, Redbox is confident that it can leverage long-standing member loyalty and redeemable points to give its service an edge.
Smith said: “Redbox has been established in the industry for almost 20 years, and we’ve got a loyalty program with 39 million members. Last week we offered 500 points to stream on the app for 30 minutes, and no one else has the ability to do that.”
