Redbox is partnering with Comcast’s FreeWheel to enable programmatic advertising for both its AVOD service and free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service.
Redbox has recently accelerated its ad-supported streaming efforts through several content deals with studios and networks. The FreeWheel deal will help the company boost its ad business by letting advertisers, demand side platforms (DSPs) and buyside platforms have easier access to Redbox inventory.
"Redbox selected FreeWheel for a number of reasons, including its unique industry approach to programmatic technology," said Jason Kwong, chief strategy and digital officer at Redbox, in a statement. "As we continue to ramp efforts in the free streaming space, we knew FreeWheel would accelerate our advertising capabilities and allow advertisers to easily micro-target viewers across all our streaming platforms. We're excited to partner with them and to further grow our business."
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“Redbox has put a lot of focus on their growing advertising business, and with that comes the need to monetize their vast amount of inventory,” said Dave Clark, general manager at FreeWheel, in a statement. “We are thrilled to be working with the team at Redbox to scale their national advertising footprint across local markets, as well as facilitating unique local demand in ways that work best for their business. As FreeWheel continues to expand our focus and enable better connection across the ecosystem, Redbox is an ideal partner.”
Redbox is planning a shareholder meeting later this month with Seaport Global Acquisition to discuss combining the companies and taking Redbox public. According to a recent filing with the SEC, the company is developing—in addition to its AVOD and FAST businesses—a subscription channels product that will allow consumers to buy and have aggregated access to multiple SVOD services. The company said it plans to provide additional value to its customers through bundled offers with loyalty points and/or promotions for discounts at its disc rental kiosks to drive customer acquisition and retention.
The Redbox Perks program has 39 million members and the company said the program gives it an advantage for driving new customer adoption of digital services and minimizing customer churn. The company said Perks points “incentivize users to create log-in credentials and opt-in to marketing communications, but they can also be used to encourage further customer engagement such as increased transactional frequency, downloading the mobile app, or trialing new digital services such as Redbox FLTV or Redbox On Demand.”
Redbox also runs a content production business for distribution on its own platforms and third-party services. The company said it plans to ramp production up to 36 releases per year.