Danny Chadwick
This week, Netflix announced that it’s ending its legacy DVD rental service after 25 years. But, now it seems the business that started it all might have a life after Netflix. According to a report from Next TV, Chicken Soup CEO Bill Rouhna is interested in purchasing the DVD by mail enterprise.
Chicken Soup For the Soul Entertainment made headlines last year when it bought the movie rental kiosk company Redbox last year under firesale conditions. According to Next TV, the CEO has been rebuffed by Netflix “three or four times” already about acquiring its legacy disc mailing service. Rouhna told the Penske Showbiz Trades, “I’d like to buy it. I wish Netflix would sell me that business instead of shutting it down.”
Acquiring Netflix’s massive stock of DVDs (even if they are aging) would be a huge win for Chicken Soup. “This could be a great boon to us because now there are a whole bunch of people who are going to look for a new place to get their DVDs, and we’re close to 90% of them based on where our kiosks are located,” Rouhna told the trades, according to Next TV.
Physical media may be a neglected business model, Rouhana believes, noting, “We believe in it, and we believe it’s going to be around for a while. Like most legacy things, it’s a lot harder to kill them than people say, I believe.”
However, it’s still a long shot for Netflix’s DVD rental service to live on. According to Next TV, Penske Media Group reached out to Netflix about Rouhna’s desire to buy, and the company affirmed its plans to shut down DVD-by-mail rentals in September.
But that’s still five months away, which is plenty of time for things to change in the business world. It’s possible that Netflix could use the influx of cash in the face of rising competition and cost-cutting in ongoing streaming wars.
Source: Next TV
