MOVIE RENTERS SHY AWAY FROM BLOCKBUSTER

Only 13 percent of consumers will rent a movie from a brick-and-mortar video store such as Blockbuster this year as rentals at kiosks and online streaming soar, according to a study by Toronto-based Convergence Consulting Group and reported by Home Media magazine on its website. Streaming video-on-demand from companies such as Netflix, Hulu Plus and […]

REDBOX NOW DVD RENTAL LEADER

According to Consumer research group NPD, most people who rent DVDs or Blu-ray discs now get them from Redbox kiosks. It noted, however, that one of the reasons is that Redbox’s principal competitor, Netflix, is focusing its attention on its streaming service rather than its DVD-by-mail service. According to NPD’s latest study, consumer rentals of […]

LUCAS TO RETIRE FROM BLOCKBUSTERS, MAKE “PERSONAL” FILMS

Apparently disgusted with his treatment by Hollywood studios when he approached them to finance Red Tails, his film about World War II’s famed Tuskegee Airmen featuring an all-black cast, George Lucas has told the New York Times that he will no longer make films for Hollywood (with the possible exception of another Indiana Jones movie). […]

DISH MAY LAUNCH NETFLIX-LIKE STREAMING SERVICE

Taking to heart the old adage, If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, the DISH satellite company is planning to launch an online video streaming service to rival Netflix’s, CEO Joseph Clayton has told Bloomberg News. The service would presumably be an extension of the one Blockbuster already offers. (DISH acquired Blockbuster in a bankruptcy […]

BLOCKBUSTER TO LAUNCH BIG MOVIE PROMOTION

A week before Black Friday, Blockbuster is kicking off what it calls Open House Weekend with a slew of bargains at its remaining 1,500 stores, including 49-cent catalog rentals and 99-cent video games. Other deals available on November 19 and 20 include a Blu-ray Disc player for $49.99 for any customer who signs up for […]

STUDIOS SEE SHIFT IN MARKETPLACE FOR HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Studios that have seen sales of DVDs plummet in recent years — particularly since the beginning of the recession in early 2008 — finally got some good news in a report by Digital Entertainment Group (DEG), the industry-funded company that promotes and tracks home entertainment usage. In a new report, DEG said that a surge […]

WARNER BROS. SAYS BLOCKBUSTER MUST WAIT 28 DAYS, TOO

Warner Bros., which forces Redbox and Netflix to wait 28 days before they can rent out its films, will now apply that policy to Blockbuster, which has boasted that customers can rent the discs from its brick-and-mortar locations or from its website without having to wait those four weeks. Analysts observed that Warner Bros. may […]

NETFLIX BATTERED AGAIN

Subscriber outrage over the decision by Netflix to spin off its DVD-by-mail business into a new company called Qwikster flooded movie-related websites on Monday, as shares in the company continued to plunge. In late trading today (Tuesday) they were down more than 8.52 percent to $131.50, hitting a 52-week low. In July they had hit […]

FEWER VIDEO STORES, MORE RENTALS

Shutting down hundreds of video rental stores has not hurt the rental business and may in fact be helping it. Or so one might conclude from a report by Portland, OR-based Rentrak. According to the company, revenue from Blu-ray and DVD rentals increased 5.8 percent in the second quarter to $1.48 billion. In a statement, […]

BLOCKBUSTER EXPRESS TAKES ON REDBOX

After making it known that it is looking for a buyer for its Blockbuster Express video rental kiosks, NCR said on Wednesday that it plans to launch a big ad campaign touting the advantages of its kiosks over those of its chief rival, Redbox. (The principal advantage, apparently, is that unlike Redbox users, those renting […]

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