Redbox Reportedly Interested in Buying Netflix’s DVD Business

Video rental company Redbox is reportedly eyeing up soon-to-be wound-down Netflix’s DVD business.

Bill Rouhana, the CEO of Redbox owner Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, told(Opens in a new window) The Hollywood Reporter that he has repeatedly reached out to Netflix and expressed his interest in buying its DVD business only to be rejected each time.

Rouhana said, “I have tried like three or four times to reach out to the corporate development people about it but just got rebuffed each time. So when I saw it being closed, I thought, ‘Well, maybe they’ll do it now.”

Netflix told the Reporter that it was not interested in selling the DVD business, and was winding it down. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment acquired Redbox last year for $370 million. 

Whether or not Netflix actually sells the DVD business or not, Rouhana was optimistic that Netflix’s move to wind it down would benefit Redbox. He told the Reporter, “This could be a great boon to us because now there are a whole bunch of people who are going to look for a new place to get their DVDs, and we’re close to 90 percent of them based on where our kiosks are located.”

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Netflix has been shipping DVDs to customers’ houses for over 25 years.  The decision to pull the DVD business was because it was shrinking, Netflix said in its announcement(Opens in a new window) this week revealing the plan. According to Variety(Opens in a new window), the DVD business generated $145.7 million last year, which represented 0.5% of its total revenue and was a 20% drop from its 2021 revenue. 

Redbox operates via automated retailed kiosks at thousands of locations across the US such as convenience stores, fast food restaurants, grocery stores, mass retailers, and pharmacies. The company also launched an online streaming service in 2017 and a free ad-supported streaming service debuting in 2020.

In total, Netflix has shipped over 5.2 billion DVDs to over 40 million unique subscribers(Opens in a new window). Netflix will send its last DVDs on Sep. 29, 2023.