Redbox kiosks are almost 5x cheaper than renting from iTunes or Amazon. I suspect this has a lot to do with the strong demand for Redbox compared to online inst

Redbox kiosks are almost 5x cheaper than renting from iTunes or Amazon. I suspect this has a lot to do with the strong demand for Redbox compared to online instant rental alternatives. The other factor is the availability of devices for streaming movies on the living room TV, but that gap is closing fast with new TVs, BluRay players, game consoles and Apple TV and related devices. For long tail, Blockbuster wouldn't stand a chance against online alternatives at the price point needed to support physical stores. From what I remember of Blockbuster (and it's been years since I've been to one), their rentals were about the same price as renting from iTunes today. Not to mention that most of the really long tail content is available for instant streaming from Netflix, even if you didn't want to wait for a DVD.