About 300 brick-and-mortar locations left in the US will be closed by early January, as well as its distribution centers. Blockbuster’s DVD-by-mail service is also shutting down in mid-December. However, DISH says it will continue to support Blockbuster’s domestic and international franchise operations (some 50 stores), relationships and agreements.
About 2,800 people who work in Blockbuster’s stores and DVD distribution centers will lose their jobs, according to an AP article.
“This is not an easy decision, yet consumer demand is clearly moving to digital distribution of video entertainment,” said Joseph Clayton, DISH CEO. “Despite our closing of the physical distribution elements of the business, we continue to see value in the Blockbuster brand, and we expect to leverage that brand as we continue to expand our digital offerings.”
DISH will then focus on delivering the Blockbuster @Home service to DISH customers, and on its transactional streaming service for the general market, Blockbuster On Demand.
DISH will retain licensing rights to the Blockbuster brand, and key assets, including the company’s significant video library.
The Blockbuster @Home service offers over 15 movie channels including STARZ Cinema, EPIX, Sony Movie Channel, and Hallmark Movie Channel, plus over 20,000 movies and TV shows streamed to TVs, computers or iPads. The service includes access to the Blockbuster @Home ‘app’ currently available to DISH’s Hopper Whole-Home HD DVR set-top box subscribers.
Blockbuster On Demand is a streaming video service offering thousands of movies viewable on connected devices including PCs, tablets, smartphones, Slingbox, Roku and select Samsung TVs and Blu-ray players.
Over the past 18 months, Blockbuster has also divested assets in the UK, as well international assets, including operations in the UK and Scandinavia.
Blockbuster already closed thousands of its stores before landing in bankruptcy court three years ago. Dish then bought the company in 2011 tried unsuccessfully to compete with Netflix. It also closed 300 stores earlier this year.
RBR-TVBR observation: As we’ve said, many of these retail outlets were probably kept open as long as they had been to potentially supply Dish customer service and POP displays in the stores to gain more business on the satellite side. However, the cost likely outweighed any benefit. DISH customers will likely keep the Blockbuster @Home service “in business,” but it’s really just a brand name at this point. The future of Blockbuster On Demand is uncertain, but so was that of Netflix at one point. You never know.
