Over the past 12 months the DVD rental industry has been at war with major entertainment corporations about the pricing of renting movies to the public through kiosk systems.

Many of the major entertainment corporations like Fox and Warner Brothers have tried to hold back on the delivery of rental DVD kiosks to companies like RedBox due to the price being just $1 per rental, as they don’t see the benefit to them.

Now the competition is on between the rental companies who are competing to offer the best deals to their film loving fans.

This week Blockbuster has announced the rollout of 2,500 Blockbuster Express $1-per-day movie rental kiosks through the end of the year, which includes partner/owner NCR Corp. acquiring content, not through Blockbuster, but from DVD distributors and third-party retailers.

Speaking at a recent Pali Capital conference call, Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes said the Dallas-based No.1 DVD rental service is receiving a license fee (from 1% to 10%) for use of the Blockbuster name and that NCR is supplying Express kiosks with content acquired through distributors such as VPD and Ingram Entertainment and retailers such as WalMart.

Some of the biggest summer box office sales are due to be released onto the high street over the next few months, and sparks are already flying. Entertainment corporations, Warner Home Video, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment have implemented 28-day, 30-day and 45-day windows, respectively, for their new-release product distributed through kiosks.

“For Blockbuster, that is a real consumer conundrum,” Keyes said. “How do you present the brand value that you want the brand image that you want and constantly disappoint customers?” 

The CEO is looking into various ways of gaining the right brand image by changing the price (from $1-$3) for new-release content, which represents 80 per cent of Blockbuster’s business.

“[We are] proactively working on diversifying our content,” Keyes said.

This kiosk war between the multi-national companies proves how fast kiosk deployment is growing in the current market. As businesses try to reduce staff costs, they are also looking for new ways to improve customer experience, hence the installation of DVD rental kiosks in supermarket and retail stores.

However, the battle between the entertainment corporations is a prime example of how many companies are reluctant to adapt to the current economical climate and the need for convenience.

While many DVDs sell at cheaper prices, the top selling box office films still price in at around £13 which is expensive in this day and age and don’t meet consumer requirements.

The move to a kiosk fulfilled environment is still a long way off as major corporations need to adapt to the consumer market but as this begins to happen, then the move will be a lot quicker and beneficial for all.