Redbox Instant streaming video service shutting down on October 7th

Netflix’s grip on the streaming video market is tightening. Today, Redbox Instant announced that the service will be shut down in just a few days, on October 7th. The service, which went live last year as part of a partnership between Verizon and Redbox parent company Outerwall, has struggled to lure subscribers away from competing streaming sites like Netflix and Amazon Instant Video. The companies never disclosed subscriber data, but the service had been operating at a loss, and earlier this year the site shut down new signups as a precautionary move after revelations that hackers were using data to perpetrate credit card fraud.

Like other competitors, Redbox Instant didn’t try to go toe-to-toe against Netflix in the unlimited streaming video market — instead, it sought to combine a smaller selection of on demand streaming titles with a handful of monthly vouchers to rent DVDs and Blu-rays directly from Redbox kiosks. However, the novel combination of streaming titles and always-available local disc rentals failed to attract a significant number of subscribers. Plans started at $6 per month.