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Redbox Enters the Free, Ad-Supported Streaming Market (techcrunch.com) 29

Posted by BeauHD from the everyone-is-doing-it dept.
Redbox has entered the ad-supported streaming market with the launch of Redbox Free Live TV. "But despite its name, Redbox's new streaming service isn't offering 'live TV' similar to what you'd get on a TV streaming service like YouTube TV or Hulu with Live TV," reports TechCrunch. "Instead, the new service offers a curated set of ad-supported movies and TV shows, similar to The Roku Channel, IMDb TV or TiVo Plus, for example." The news was first reported by Cord Cutters News. From the report: The service, which began rolling out last week, expands on Redbox's earlier efforts in streaming, known as Redbox on Demand. Launched publicly in 2017, Redbox on Demand is the company's online marketplace for movies and TV for rental and purchase. Those titles can then be saved in your Redbox On Demand library and watched on a compatible smart TV, media streaming device, PC, tablet or phone. They also can be cast to a TV by way of AirPlay, Chromecast, Miracast or Screencast. Redbox Free Live TV, meanwhile, is currently available on iPhone, iPad and Android devices, in addition to the web. However, the company says the service is "only available to a select audience" at this time, but will soon be offered nationwide. (Perhaps as soon as this week.)

Like other free, ad-supported streaming services on the market, Redbox Free Live TV doesn't require users to subscribe, but instead runs commercial breaks as a means of generating revenue. On top of that, the content on Redbox Free Live TV is fairly niche -- news and entertainment, but limited to older shows and movies, for the most part, along with content from digital brands.
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Redbox Enters the Free, Ad-Supported Streaming Market More

Redbox Enters the Free, Ad-Supported Streaming Market

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  • Depends on how many commercials (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Snotnose ( 212196 ) on Tuesday February 18, 2020 @08:11PM (#59741434)
    I used to like Pluto but the commercial load completely ruined it. They seem to be doubling down on the Clearchannel model: show as many commercials as possible, the consumer is too lazy to change channels. The final straw was when I timed them to ensure it wasn't my imagination. It was something like 6 minutes of show, 3 minutes of commercials. Fuck that shit. It's not that 1/3 of the time is commercials, it the constant commercial breaks. Makes it impossible to really get into a show.

    bzzt. Not this consumer. Not only did I change the channel, I deleted Pluto from my lineup.
    • Anything greater that zero ads is probably more than I could handle. I grew up with ad supported broadcast TV, but as I've gotten older, I've become less and less tolerant of ads in any form.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Maybe because the ads are getting worse. When I was a kid there were fewer of them and they were less obnoxious. Now there are too many and they are all loud and often mildly insulting.

      • Say what you will about traditional TV channels, they know how to time their commerical breaks. They vary the intervals between breaks, typically decreasing as the show progresses like 12-12-9-5-4 for a 5-act structure, to match the viewers engagement with the show. I've seen several breakdowns of Mythbusters, where they actually run 12-2-12-6-6-6. Some channels are even varying the length of the break, e.g. the first commerical break is only 1 minute long.

        • It's unbelievable that Americans put up with this (I guess maybe you won't much longer), in the UK you have ads in between programmes and another set of ads for a few minutes every 15 mins at most, i.e. half way through a half-hour slot. For field sports, like rugby of football, there are ads ONLY at the half-time break.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Oh shit. Well if WIKIPEDIA says so, it must be true. Documentaries shouldn't be classified as such when people you disagree with make them! Bleargh! I especially like how an interpretation of modern day can somehow be considered 'revisionist history', but you always expect perversions of vocabulary from your average Libtard.

    • Not only the quantity of ads, but the repetitive nature of those ads make make this ad-supported TV stuff toxic to me. Regular tv has the same issue, but to a lesser degree.

      I can only imagine that Bloomberg has bought up all of the IPtv ad space, like he's trying to do with all other media. Screw that.

  • Nope (Score:3)

    by markdavis ( 642305 ) on Tuesday February 18, 2020 @11:11PM (#59741768)

    >"Redbox has entered the ad-supported streaming market "

    Fail.
    Commercials = no way, never = nope.
    Streaming = forced viewing with no control = nope.

    I will stick with cable + DVR (TiVo) where I have full control, and Netflix Disc where I can rent just about any movie (in full BluRay quality), and Netflix Streaming where there are no commercials. I haven't watched any forced content in 20 years and not about to start now.

    I think Redbox is going to find that consumers aren't as amenable to forced content as they used to be. Sure, there will be some, but I predict this probably isn't going to be a big win.

    • Streaming = forced viewing with no control = nope.

      Who or what is forcing you to view streamed content?

      I'm 100% in control of what I stream and when it's streamed.

      • >"Who or what is forcing you to view streamed content? I'm 100% in control of what I stream and when it's streamed."

        You are in control of what program you ask to see. You are not in control of what is being shown before/during/after. Commercials, intros, promos, public service messages, etc, will be "forced"- you can't skip them and can't zoom (cue) through them.

    • Some people don't want to pay a monthly subscription for passive entertainment, but don't mind the ads. Redbox is banking on there being a decent number of people.

      Personally I don't think I'm one of them but if they have good enough content I might be brought round.
    • Some people aren't willing to pay an extra $100 for "control." If some advertisements that I can walk away during are the price of having convenient access to some shit to kill time with is the cost of some free entertainment, I'm willing to give it a shot and I'm sure many others are as well. And if I really want control, I can just get shows from pirate sites, but that's less convenient than just popping on some streaming service.
    • Doesnt Tivo show pre-roll ads now?

      • >"Doesnt Tivo show pre-roll ads now?"

        Not that I have ever seen, and have been using TiVo forever. Perhaps they were experimenting or something. It would be a sure way to lose me as a customer...

  • Redbox Free Live TV is fairly niche -- news and entertainment, but limited to older shows and movies...with commercials. NO
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  • Redbox sounds like it's a streaming box specially designed for redtube streaming. Does it have a wipe clean finish?

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