Archives For DVD

DISH Network To Acquire Blockbuster

Dave Zatz —  April 6, 2011 — 6 Comments

DISH Network has won the bankruptcy court auction of Blockbuster in a transaction valued at $320 million. Although they’ll surely invest much more as they attempt a turn around of the sullied but “highly recognizable” brand.

At first blush, their play struck me as highly bizarre. However, acquiring a streaming video solution and 1,700 brick & mortar outposts is potentially cheaper and certainly quicker than starting from scratch. And you know DISH intends to leverage their new storefront as a means of marketing satellite service when the deal closes in the next month or so. Although Blockbuster didn’t previously seem to have much success reselling TiVo or the PS3.

Lastly, DISH has been picking up spectrum and could conceivably make a cell phone or broadband play… and perhaps Blockbuster is where one would acquire a DISH Network cellphone as part of a triple play?

In DVD, Satellite TV, Video
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Blockbuster’s Downward Spiral

Dave Zatz —  February 25, 2011 — 22 Comments

Online MBA Programs (who?) has compiled a variety of stats into compelling series of graphics that document “How Netflix Destroyed Blockbuster.” While the inverse parallels are dramatic and it’s worth perusing, I remain convinced that Blockbuster is fully responsible for their downward spiral.

Many have pointed to Blockbuster’s missed opportunity of acquiring Netflix on the cheap a decade ago, but the end result would have have likely remained the same given their leadership and vision. And an inability to execute.

Take for example, Blockbuster’s failed forays beyond the brick & mortar. They launched their own mail order DVD service and acquired Movielink for online video. Which saw little uptake and questionable management commitment. Then there was that poor video streaming box that they failed to market (or update) and then quickly buried. Continue Reading…

In DVD, Netflix
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How Does Netflix Prioritize Video Inventory?

Dave Zatz —  February 25, 2011 — 2 Comments

As we know, the video streaming sites like Hulu and Netflix (now Amazon, too) serve up is quite variable. Titles come, and titles go. Emphasizing the complex (and costly) licensing forces at play. Interestingly, Netflix may harness the power of their community as one factor in determining the content (physical and digital?) they go after. From Communications VP Steve Swasey:

If we have a certain number of Queue adds, we will buy the title.

On one hand, this seems to be a fairly strong indicator of interest. On the other, I’m surely not the only customer who completely bypasses titles that aren’t “in stock.” So consider this a Netflix PSA — load up your queue with the titles you want, not just the video on hand.

Postscript: As we contemplate a reduced role in the Googlesphere, Netflix’s Steve Swasey was the very first industry guy who talked to us on the record way back in 2005. Time flies when you’re having fun. (And good riddance to Sony’s UMD.)

In DVD, Netflix, Video
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An Age-Old Format War

Mari Silbey —  November 27, 2010 — 14 Comments

It’s about this time every year that I get a plaintive plea from my parents, who would like nothing more for Christmas than for me to convert some form of old media into a new and more usable format. As a kid I remember taping records for my mom so she’d have music to listen to in the car. More recently I converted slides from my dad’s days in the Peace Corps into image files that I loaded on to a digital photo frame. This year I’m tackling some of the VHS home movies in the parental archive in the hopes that I can make a dent in the job of turning their videotape library into something watchable on TVs, PCs, and iPods.

On impulse I picked up a VuPoint ST100B Digital Video Converter on sale for $30 in a JustDeals offer earlier this week. (It’s $53.14 at Amazon now.) We have an old analog-to-digital converter, but it’s hardware we haven’t touched in years, and it’s been known to be finicky in the past. The VuPoint comes with some warning. It doesn’t play nice with Macs, and it only converts files into .asf format suitable for Windows Media Player. However, I figure I can download something off the net to transcode .asf files to .mp4 – something like the open-source HandBrake software we’ve used for Roku playback in our house. Once I’ve got a batch of .mp4 files, it’ll be a cinch to burn a DVD, transfer the lot to a USB stick, or steal my mother’s iPod Touch and upload the files there. Voila, old-media-to-new-media dilemma solved.

Perhaps I’m being over-optimistic about the conversion process with the VuPoint box. Anyone out there found a simpler, faster route to playable home movies? If this doesn’t work, I’ll be looking for suggestions.

In DVD, Home, Software, Video
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Department of the Obvious (Blockbuster, Netflix)

Dave Zatz —  September 24, 2010 — 8 Comments

This week in Department of the Obvious, we find Blockbuster filing for bankruptcy. The only possible surprise is that it took this long. As chapter 11 was the inevitable outcome after failing to modernize their operation quickly enough and, in my experience, providing years of poor customer service. Fortunately, for them, they intend to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings having shed a ton of debt and still in business. As I tweeted yesterday, “The smart moves for Blockbuster are to shutter stores & double down on kiosks.” They’ve got a well-known, if sullied, brand and should work additional licensing deals to preserve their legacy and the business. Whatever that business turns out to be.

And on the other end of the spectrum… Netlflix, who has done a rather masterful job navigating these uncharted waters, confirmed the obvious: “We are looking at adding a streaming-only option for the USA over the coming months.” No surprise there — Netflix has repeatedly stated they expect digital video streaming usage to continue increasing, as shipments of physical DVDs ultimately decrease. The only challenge they’ll have is pricing such a service. Right now, the $9/mo single disc rental package includes unlimited online playback. And I can’t imagine they could take a digital-only package much lower. For comparison, the new discless Canadian subscription runs $8/month CAD. Unfortunately, at these price points, I fear we’ll continue to miss out on premium new releases.

In DVD, Industry, Netflix, Video
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