Five months after announcing their joint venture to compete with Netflix, Verizon and Redbox parent company Coinstar Inc. have finally released key details about it … on the same day Netflix will give its second-quarter earnings.
As outlined by a just-launched website, the joint venture has been christened “Redbox Instant by Verizon” and is under the direction of CEO Shawn Strickland, who previously served as an executive for Verizon’s FiOS pay TV service.
A Verizon representative confirmed to us that the service — which combines traditional Redox DVD and Blu-ray kiosk rentals with streaming over Verizon’s network — is in an invitation-only “alpha” testing stage.
Also read: A new ‘stream team’? Verizon and Redbox take on Netflix
Beyond Strickland, the website also outlines the Redbox Instant executive team. However, no information is given as to what type of programming the new service will provide. Will there be TV shows? New-release movies? A premium cable deal of some kind?
The service was announced in February, with Verizon claiming a 65 percent share and Coinstar 35 percent.
“Despite our initial skepticism about the Verizon Redbox joint-venture, we continue to sense the venture will be an increasingly aggressive player in the online video streaming world,” blogged BTIG Research analyst Richard Greenfield Tuesday
