After numerous failures, Plex is launching a TV and movie rental marketplace. The media firm revealed its plan to add rentals to its streaming service right before the COVID-19 outbreak, which delayed its debut and caused other technological issues. Plex announced a second-quarter rental market debut at CES last year. That window was also missed.
After speaking with Plex managers at CES, Janko Roettgers reported that Plex’s TV and movie store will open next month. The business is now confirming this.
Plex told Eltrys that Roettgers’ report is true, but it didn’t mention show names or launch partners. It also stated that the store’s opening time is unknown. According to the source, Plex has “most studios” on board and plans to add more.
The streaming media software developer has long planned to join the TVOD industry (transactional video on demand, or rentals) to supplement its ad-supported streaming. To make Plex a one-stop shop for media material, the storefront will let users locate movies and TV series for on-demand streaming.
Last year, Plex switched providers because of technical challenges with the DRM, which slowed its growth. It also noted that studio permission and switching third-party partners for its AVOD service were delays. The team then had to fix an unrelated technical fault that was randomly stopping streaming on Android TV, Fire TV, and Android mobile devices.
Plex said the rental business is finally ready to start after those issues. We expect updates next month.
The source said Plex planned a facelift and more social features for the year, along with the TVOD shop.
