Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Verizon / Redbox: from OTT to IYF, Netflix

I had predicted here  and here that we would soon see OTT offers from traditional MSOs.
Redbox, the DVD and games rental kiosk company with over 28,000 locations had announced, a year ago, that they would be looking for a or several streaming partners.

The search is now over, as Redbox and Verizon partner to deliver movie and TV shows on demand streaming services. Redbox provides the content and rights, while Verizon provides the infrastructure and transport. A neat arrangement, that could put Verizon as a major OTT content distributor in the future.

The OTT part, of course is that the service will be accessible to anyone, Verizon subscriber or not, on multi platforms (smartphones, tablets, PCs, Consoles, connected devices...). Verizon will leverage its VCast and its mobile CDN infrastructure and negotiated rights.

It will be interesting to see how Redbox service complements or competes against VCast and similar offering from Amazon, Hulu +... Of course the fight will really be on with the next Google TV and Apple TV incarnations. In the meantime, Verizon steps boldly in OTT - In Your Face, Netflix

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