Paramount agrees to trial with Redbox DVD rental kiosks

Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures agreed to continue to provide Coinstar Inc.'s Redbox DVD rental kiosks with new releases through the end of the year after other Hollywood studios delayed titles.

Paramount has the option to extend the trial agreement to 2014, the companies said today in a statement. Oakbrook Terrace-based Redbox will destroy Paramount titles after the rental period expires.

Kiosk operators will make up almost 30 percent of the movie-rental business next year, compared with 19 percent in the first half, Port Washington, New York-based researcher NPD Group Inc. said today in an e-mailed statement. Netflix Inc. and other mail-order video services have a 36 percent share, and retailers including Blockbuster Inc. account for 45 percent, NPD said.

Redbox has sued News Corp.'s Fox film studio, General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures and Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. after the studios decided to delay providing new releases to the kiosks, which rent movies for as little as $1 a day.

Viacom, which has climbed 32 percent this year, rose 24 cents to $25.08 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Coinstar, based in Bellevue, Washington, rose 40 cents to $32.29. The shares have gained 66 percent this year.