Redbox has gone from fighting the studios to build its video rental (and now streaming) business to having deals with them, and that cozy new relationship is reflected by its choice of a new leader. Parent company Outerwall announced its earnings today and that Mark Horak, formerly president of the Americas for Warner Bros. will be the new president of Redbox. A "leadership transition" saw former president Anne Saunders leave in December, and Outerwall CEO cited Horak's experience and relationships "growing DVD, Blu-ray, video game and digital sale" as reasons he's perfect for the spot he's taking over on March 17th. Other than executive changes at Outerwall's other businesses (Coinstar and ecoATM) we're not seeing any immediate changes, and Redbox's most recent numbers seem on track, with revenue for Q4 that was slightly higher than the same period last year.
The most important new business is the Redbox Instant streaming/kiosk combo effort, and while it apparently didn't warrant a mention in the report, it hasn't gained much traction yet against competitors like Amazon Prime Video, Hulu Plus and Netflix. Redbox went from duking it out with Warner in 2012 over a proposed 56-day delay for rentals to cutting a deal for a shorter 28-day delay and implementing UltraViolet support in Redbox Instant. We'll tune into the investor call in a few minutes to see if Redbox explains where it's going from here -- our first suggestion is a dedicated return slot on each kiosk.
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