In late 2012, Verizon and Redbox rolled out Redbox Instant, a streaming service for Verizon customers that was “targeted squarely at movie lovers.” Apparently, Redbox Instant just hasn’t panned out, and the two companies have decided to shut the service down, Re/code reports, due to a lack of interest from users.
According to a message published to the Redbox Instant site, Verizon and Redbox will shutter the service on Octover 7th because “it was not as successful as we hoped it would be.”
The story behind the story: Redbox Instant was but one of a number of attempts by carriers and service providers to try to compete with video streaming services from the likes of Netflix and Amazon. So far, many of these services just haven’t worked out. Dish Networks’s plan to turn Blockbuster into a full-fledged Netflix alternative went nowhere, and Xfinity’s Streampix service hasn’t received a very good reception, as DSLReports noted in late September.
Redbox’s red boxes will live on.
Users will get refunds
Redbox Instant will refund customers who paid for a full month of service but didn’t receive it a refund for that month. The Redbox Instant app will no longer work, and you will be able to delete the app.
The service has yet to announce what it’ll do for customers who have purchased digital versions of on-demand movies, but says it’ll notify customers in the next couple weeks. Meanwhile, the Redbox dispensers at your local supermarket will stick around, so you’ll still be able to pick up a DVD on a whim when you go grocery shopping.