November 5, 2024

Redbox launched its video rental kiosk business back in the early 2000s when the industry was still dominated by chains like Blockbuster. While brick-and-mortar stores charged $2 to $5 per night, customers could rent movies at Redbox for just $1 since the kiosks were much cheaper to maintain than physical locations. Customers also liked that Redbox operated 24/7, functioning more like a vending machine than a retailer. By 2007, the company had more U.S. locations than Blockbuster. Redbox peaked in Continue reading

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April 26, 2022

Netflix revolutionized the entertainment industry after the company launched its streaming service in 2007, creating an on-demand platform that was soon imitated by many competitors. Although Netflix still has the largest audience in the industry with 220 million subscribers, the company faces strong competition from services like Disney+, HBO Max, and many others. No longer the only game in town, over the years Netflix has spent big on original television series and movies in order to stand out from this Continue reading

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November 11, 2021

The September premiere of the latest season of American Crime Story generated tons of press for the Emmy-winning FX show, but unfortunately the network could not transform that media attention into viewership. Despite being one of the most acclaimed dramas in recent years, American Crime Story ranks 15th in the ratings and generates next to no chatter on social media. Of course, that’s likely because this television show only airs on TV: due to a previous agreement with Netflix, American Continue reading

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February 20, 2020

Over the last few years, cable and satellite companies have lost tens of millions of subscribers who have grown tired of seeing their monthly rates steadily rise. In 2019 more than 5.5 million people “cut the cord” with large cable and satellite providers, a huge increase over last year’s loss of 3.2 million customers. As TV companies pay more and more to produce and acquire new programming, they will likely keep raising subscriber rates on an already strained consumer base. Continue reading

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January 17, 2020

2019 was the year that the so-called “streaming wars” got serious. Disney+ and Apple TV+ launched in an effort to compete against Netflix while established broadcasters like NBC and HBO announced that their streaming services would go live in mid-2020. As the streaming marketplace grew increasingly crowded, industry insiders worried that media companies were offering too much content to consumers. According to research by the cable network FX, these fears could prove to be true: last year a total of Continue reading

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September 20, 2019

This week Netflix announced that it spent $500 million to acquire the streaming rights to Seinfeld, which broadcast its last episode way back in 1998. While it may seem strange to spend so much money on a decades-old show, Netflix is far from the only streaming service to splash cash on a classic sitcom. Along with paying $425 million for Friends, HBO Max also acquired the streaming rights to The Big Bang Theory for $1 billion. Meanwhile, NBC-Universal Continue reading

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July 18, 2019

Earlier this year, Netflix raised its monthly rates by 13 to 18 percent across its various subscription plans. According to experts, the streaming video platform increased prices in order to ease investors’ fears that it was taking on too much debt. Unfortunately for Netflix’s stakeholders, however, the company recently announced that this decision contributed to a drop in U.S. subscribers for the first time since its launch 12 years ago.

During the second quarter of 2019, Netflix lost 126,000 customers. Continue reading

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June 11, 2019

On Sunday night CBS aired the 73rd Annual Tony Awards, one of the most important evenings in American theater. But while this prestigious ceremony has been compared to Broadway’s version of the Oscars, the Tonys don’t attract nearly as large of an audience as Hollywood’s big night. For instance, 30 million people watched the Academy Awards in February compared to just 6 million viewers for Sunday’s show. Although Broadway continues to enjoy strong box office sales, many theaters have had Continue reading

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In the 1980s Coca-Cola was losing market share to its rival Pepsi at an alarming rate. Blind taste tests performed by Coke even showed that consumers seemed to prefer Pepsi’s sweeter flavor. So in 1985 the Atlanta-based company scrapped its classic formula in favor of a sugary but smooth cola that came to be known as “New Coke.” The change shocked soda lovers across the country, prompting boycotts and letter-writing campaigns that did significant damage to Coke’s brand image. After Continue reading

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January 22, 2019

When Netflix launched its video streaming platform in the late 2000s, all of the titles featured on the service came from other movie studios and production companies. If you boot up your account these days, though, most of the TV shows and films listed on the homepage are owned and produced by Netflix itself. Over the last few years the streaming giant has invested heavily to create its own content. By one estimate, Netflix spends more than $8 billion annually Continue reading

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