BLOCKBUSTER SLASHES RENTAL RATES

Blockbuster, which was recently acquired by satellite operator DISH Network, is at last doing what many analysts had been urging it to do for years — compete with rivals like Netflix and Redbox on price. It announced on Thursday that beginning today (Friday) it is lowering the prices of thousands of videos to 99 cents per day — the same price that most kiosks charge, including those owned by NCR that license the Blockbuster name and logo. Newer movies — many of which cannot be rented via the kiosks or Netflix until 28 days after Blockbuster offers them for rent — will be priced at $2.99 for the first day and other new releases will be priced at $1.99 for the first day — 99 cents after that. And to encourage customers to return to the stores, Blockbuster is offering this promotion through July 4: rent any movie priced at $2.99 and return to the store an unlimited number of times to rent any additional movie priced at $1.99 or less for one day free. “Our customers are seeking a better value — we’ve answered with new pricing and the flexibility of single day rentals,” Michael Kelly, president of Blockbuster, said in a statement.