Redbox Teams with Roku To Promote Streaming Players at Walmart

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Consumers get $5 toward movie rentals

Redbox, looking to become a bigger player in streaming, is being promoted on specially marked boxes containing Roku players sold exclusively at Walmart stores.

Redbox Roku

Redbox is offering a $5 credit on Roku packages (Image credit: Redbox)

People who purchase the streaming devices will be able to get a $5 credit toward movie rentals when they download the Redbox app via their Roku player.

Redbox’s DVD rental kiosks are familiar features of many Walmart stories. Now Redbox is promoting its streaming service to Walmart shoppers and Roku users.

Also Read: Redbox Adds War and Westerns, Rewind to Roster of Free Streaming Channels

“Roku has been a great partner on this unique promotion, which gives us the ability to attract a large new audience to our streaming app,” said Galen Smith, CEO, Redbox. “We’ve been rapidly expanding our free streaming services, and I know consumers will find a lot of great content to enjoy.”

Redbox has been expanding its digital business since being acquired by Apollo Global Management in 2017. The company is in the process of going public through a Special Purpose Acquisition Company, with Apollo remaining a major shareholder.

Also Read: Redbox CEO Galen Smith: Why 40 Million ‘Late-Adopter’ Customers Will ‘Make the Digital Shift With Us’

The transition started with a transactional video-on-demand service, then began adding Redbox Originals in 2019.

In February 2020, Redbox Free Live TV launched. It has about 100 linear channels, including three with the Redbox brand, generating more than a million monthly active users. Redbox launched its free on demand service in December.

Roku started carrying the Redbox app in December 2017. Redbox’s free streaming television channels went live on The Roku Channel in June 2020.

The Roku promotion is designed to help consumers discover Redbox’s free streaming platforms.

Also Read: Redbox Adds to AVOD Library with Oscilloscope Labs Deal

In September, viewers will be able to stream for free Hunter Killer starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman, Enders Game starring Harrison Ford and Asa Butterfield, the classic Notre Dame football movie Rudy, hit drama Big Fish starring Ewan McGregor, and 90s teen romantic comedy Can’t Hardly Wait starring Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.