4 ms·

If it was so profitable there would be many copycats, like with their streaming business. I don’t know of any copycat.

fragmede 3y ago
RedBox, those kiosks that dispense DVDs. Extremely popular in areas less well served by streaming services. $80 million in revenue in Q2 2023.
- bryanrasmussen 3y ago
  so it sounds like RedBox will increase in revenue. however reading on company "Redbox shares were down 40% in recent trading. Redbox shareholders on Tuesday approved the company's acquisition by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment." in August. You would think Netflix getting out of the business should be a sign for shares to go up. Maybe they're not that profitable either.
  - hnbad 3y ago
    Shareholders like VCs generally want growth and even if Redbox could gobble up Netflix's DVD rental market share, the market itself is stagnant if not shrinking at this point so a short-lived growth opportunity is not particularly appealing. Redbox could monopolize the DVD rental market and investors still wouldn't be excited because it can't move anywhere from there and it would end up plateauing in a very boring niche. Investors don't care about profit of the business, they care about profit of their investment (ROI). Whether a company is profitable or bleeding money only matters as part of the prediction on where the share price will go.
    - alephnerd 3y ago
      > VCs generally want growth and even if Redbox could gobble up Netflix's DVD rental market share, the market itself is stagnant Netflix IPOed in 2002 and Redbox's parent company is a penny stock (Chicken Soup of the Soul Entertainment // NASDAQ: CSSE) VCs do not invest in public entities. The companies that invest in public entities are Investment Banks and Private Equity, both of which are different industries with different norms and regulations from Venture Capital
  - pbhjpbhj 3y ago
    >You would think Netflix getting out of the business should be a sign for shares to go up. A massively corp with many experienced analysts considers a market no longer capable of producing a profit... to me that is a sign that the sector is dying. There's probably a [small] steady-state business in there, but investors want growth.
    - im_z 3y ago
      "but investors want growth" which we know is a stupid mentality.
- Yeul 3y ago
  How many people do you think won't have access to high speed internet in 10 years? It's a dying business.
  - rasz 3y ago
    You are missing the content acquisition cost. With disks its a one time retail fee and you own it.
    - _fizz_buzz_ 3y ago
      Are you allowed to rent out regular DVDs? I assume you enter some contract that it is only for private use. I have no idea though, actually.
      - ianhawes 3y ago
        Yes you are! You’ve let IP rights holders rot your brain. Are you aware that there are publicly funded buildings in most towns in the US that permit you to rent one or multiple books without a monthly subscription fee? And that the late fees charged by those institutions do not share any of those revenues with the author? And that this model has been around for hundreds of years?
        _fizz_buzz_ 3y ago
        Ok, it seems you are right. But it is not as obvious as you make it sound. I looked into this a little bit more. So, apparently software and audio recordings cannot be rented out and are excluded from the first sale exception to copyright. Movies studios tried to do get congress to do the same for movies but were unsuccessful. So, movies can actually be purchased and then rented out as you stated. But one can still not do whatever one wants with a DVD e.g. public performances (even free of charge) are not legal unless one buys the appropriate license.
        rasz 3y ago
        >apparently software millions of people rented nintendo/sega cartridges in the nineties. N actually tried suing blockbuster https://www.nintendotimes.com/1989/08/19/nintendo-sues-blockbuster-video-for-copying-instruction-books/ https://www.nintendotimes.com/1989/08/19/nintendo-sues-block... but couldnt on game lending grounds so went for xeroxing manuals. Blockbuster in return switched to third party manuals, but lawsuit failed. N heavily lobbied for Computer Software Rental Amendments Act, but ultimately failed and games are excluded https://www.congress.gov/bill/101st-congress/senate-bill/198 https://www.congress.gov/bill/101st-congress/senate-bill/198
developer93 3y ago
There are a few, we use one and my family uses another. Cinema Paradiso is one.
hnbad 3y ago
It's not a growth market so any copycats are likely too small and boring to have received any attention. The licensing landscape also means it's not something you can easily bootstrap. It's a bad example really because while it would have been easy for Netflix to keep around as a profitable but shrinking side business, it isn't something that at this point in history lends itself to creating a new businesses around.

RedBox, those kiosks that dispense DVDs. Extremely popular in areas less well served by streaming services. $80 million in revenue in Q2 2023.

bryanrasmussen 3y ago
so it sounds like RedBox will increase in revenue. however reading on company "Redbox shares were down 40% in recent trading. Redbox shareholders on Tuesday approved the company's acquisition by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment." in August. You would think Netflix getting out of the business should be a sign for shares to go up. Maybe they're not that profitable either.
- hnbad 3y ago
  Shareholders like VCs generally want growth and even if Redbox could gobble up Netflix's DVD rental market share, the market itself is stagnant if not shrinking at this point so a short-lived growth opportunity is not particularly appealing. Redbox could monopolize the DVD rental market and investors still wouldn't be excited because it can't move anywhere from there and it would end up plateauing in a very boring niche. Investors don't care about profit of the business, they care about profit of their investment (ROI). Whether a company is profitable or bleeding money only matters as part of the prediction on where the share price will go.
  - alephnerd 3y ago
    > VCs generally want growth and even if Redbox could gobble up Netflix's DVD rental market share, the market itself is stagnant Netflix IPOed in 2002 and Redbox's parent company is a penny stock (Chicken Soup of the Soul Entertainment // NASDAQ: CSSE) VCs do not invest in public entities. The companies that invest in public entities are Investment Banks and Private Equity, both of which are different industries with different norms and regulations from Venture Capital
- pbhjpbhj 3y ago
  >You would think Netflix getting out of the business should be a sign for shares to go up. A massively corp with many experienced analysts considers a market no longer capable of producing a profit... to me that is a sign that the sector is dying. There's probably a [small] steady-state business in there, but investors want growth.
  - im_z 3y ago
    "but investors want growth" which we know is a stupid mentality.
Yeul 3y ago
How many people do you think won't have access to high speed internet in 10 years? It's a dying business.
- rasz 3y ago
  You are missing the content acquisition cost. With disks its a one time retail fee and you own it.
  - _fizz_buzz_ 3y ago
    Are you allowed to rent out regular DVDs? I assume you enter some contract that it is only for private use. I have no idea though, actually.
    - ianhawes 3y ago
      Yes you are! You’ve let IP rights holders rot your brain. Are you aware that there are publicly funded buildings in most towns in the US that permit you to rent one or multiple books without a monthly subscription fee? And that the late fees charged by those institutions do not share any of those revenues with the author? And that this model has been around for hundreds of years?
      - _fizz_buzz_ 3y ago
        Ok, it seems you are right. But it is not as obvious as you make it sound. I looked into this a little bit more. So, apparently software and audio recordings cannot be rented out and are excluded from the first sale exception to copyright. Movies studios tried to do get congress to do the same for movies but were unsuccessful. So, movies can actually be purchased and then rented out as you stated. But one can still not do whatever one wants with a DVD e.g. public performances (even free of charge) are not legal unless one buys the appropriate license.
        rasz 3y ago
        >apparently software millions of people rented nintendo/sega cartridges in the nineties. N actually tried suing blockbuster https://www.nintendotimes.com/1989/08/19/nintendo-sues-blockbuster-video-for-copying-instruction-books/ https://www.nintendotimes.com/1989/08/19/nintendo-sues-block... but couldnt on game lending grounds so went for xeroxing manuals. Blockbuster in return switched to third party manuals, but lawsuit failed. N heavily lobbied for Computer Software Rental Amendments Act, but ultimately failed and games are excluded https://www.congress.gov/bill/101st-congress/senate-bill/198 https://www.congress.gov/bill/101st-congress/senate-bill/198

developer93 3y ago

There are a few, we use one and my family uses another. Cinema Paradiso is one.

hnbad 3y ago

It's not a growth market so any copycats are likely too small and boring to have received any attention. The licensing landscape also means it's not something you can easily bootstrap. It's a bad example really because while it would have been easy for Netflix to keep around as a profitable but shrinking side business, it isn't something that at this point in history lends itself to creating a new businesses around.