Streaming media company Plex is expanding its business with a movie rentals storefront after raising $40 million. The move is meant to provide a new revenue stream beyond subscriptions and ad-supported streaming at a time when the advertising market is uncertain.
The marketplace will initially offer movies from top studios such as WB, Paramount, MGM, Lionsgate, and A24. This means Plex users will have access to popular titles such as “Barbie,” “Wonka,” “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning,” “The Color Purple,” “Expend4bles,” “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” “Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” and “Mean Girls,” among others.
Image Credits: Plex
Plex says the marketplace will feature just over 1,000 titles available for rent, starting at $3.99, with plans to increase the selection over time.
While the company had planned to launch a TV and movie rental marketplace before the COVID-19 pandemic, it saw a surge in streaming customers and faced technical challenges, delaying the rollout. Despite earlier plans to offer both movies and TV shows for rent or purchase, user surveys indicated a higher demand for movie rentals, prompting Plex to focus on this category for now.
Image Credits: Plex
Once a movie is rented, users have 30 days to watch it and 48 hours from the start of the rental to finish viewing it, a standard practice in the industry. The rented movie will also appear in the “Continue Watching” section on Plex’s home screen if not completed on the first viewing. Plex plans to add more studio partners to its movie rentals store over time.
Plex believes its recommendation capabilities will set it apart in the crowded movie rental market. The company’s wealth of user data from its media organization, live channel streaming, ad-supported content, and social networking features enables personalized recommendations and may drive more users to rent movies.
Image Credits: Plex
Plex also emphasizes its partnerships with studios to protect copyrights and prevent illegal use, given its software solution is used to store users’ home media collections, including movies ripped from DVDs. The new movie marketplace will be available on various platforms, including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, smart TVs, game consoles, and Apple and Android smartphones and tablets.
