BLOCKBUSTER BEGINS SELLING $99.99 BLU-RAY PLAYERS

Apparently realizing that the only way to get its customers to rent higher-priced Blu-ray Disc movies is to persuade them to buy Blu-ray players, Blockbuster has begun selling Sylvania Blu-ray players for $99.99 at most of its stores. It is also selling TiVo’s Series 2 digital video recorder for streaming Blockbuster On Demand movies for the same price. While the Big Blue rental chain is selling each of these items at a price far below the suggested retail price, at least two other national dealers, Amazon.com and Wal-Mart stores, are selling them at a similar price.