Blockbuster to favor Blu-ray HD discs over DVD format (1 Viewer)

[TonyD]

thats not new.
they have been in the red for a long time

 

[troy evans]

All the more reason why We all shouldn't give Their Bluray favoritism any great concern in regards to the format war.If They are having hard times getting out of debt then They obviously miss-manage Their investments(Bluray)and don't do to great a job with rentals.How about doing more rent one get one marketing.It used to work well for Them.$800 million in debt,WOW!

 

[ReggieW]

Nonetheless......

the damage has now been done to HD-DVD's rep. They've faced a windfall of bad publicity since this announcement, and it remains to be seen if/how the HD-DVD group will counter (yes, I've already read Universal/Graffeo's ridicluous rebuttle) it with some positive news.

 

[troy evans]

Sadly, I have to agree with You on that point.

 

[ppltd]

Well, a week after BB announces they will only be supporting BD in store they announce the closure of 282 stores. Boy, the BD announcement did them a lot of good.

Now I know the two stories have nothing to do with each other, but timing is everything.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

They are basically just trimming the fat. When you have something like 5800 stores and your biggest competitor is forcing you to change your business model to more 'online', then some stores are going to suffer. I would expect more stores to go away in the following years. Heck last year I saw two disappear near me.

I just got an email from Netflix saying my plan has dropped in price. Now only 13.99 for 2 out at a time. BB did, or is planning on doing the same thing. These two are making it hard for me to choose who to support. Guess I'll stay Netflix until I see how much BB really stocks BD.

 

[ppltd]

If I am not mistaken, the closures are in their corp. owned stores, not the Franchises. If I am reading the Financials right this about 20 % of the 1500 - 1600 corporate stores that will be closed, and you are right, there will most likely be more to come. Last year they shut nearly 300 stores.

 

[Douglas Monce]

In the last 4 years Blockbuster has closed over 600 stores. Now they are closing almost 300 more. Netflix must really be cutting into their business.

Doug

 

[TonyD]

that and maybe total access has less people renting in store in spite of being able to return them to the store.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

I really think the main problem Blockbuster is facing is that people are no longer renting movies in a genre that they're interested in. When you factor in the cost of gas to drive to the store (twice), and the lost time in hunting down an available copy of the movie, it's actually cheaper (and more convenient) to go ahead and purchase the DVD at Wal-Mart and/or Amazon on "street" day for $16-$20 than to rent it for $5.00. And if the movie were to be rented twice, then the overall price (including gas and lost time) has now far exceeded the purchase price.

Renting the movie at Blockbuster only makes since if the movie is in a genre that a person or family may have only a passing interest in. But if that's the case, then there is no real compelling need to try to view the title on the day it "streets"; and it's cheaper (and more convenient) to just wait for the title to come in the mail.

In either scenario, Blockbuster provides a very poor second choice.

Blockbuster built their business at a time when movies on VHS would usually cost $70.00 or more during their first 90 days of distribution. That model is long gone.

In retrospect it's incredible that Blockbuster has *any* stores still open!!

 

[ReggieW]

Well, many of us here agreed that the impact on HD-DVD would mostly be in the form of bad PR. Materially though, I really don't think it will make much of an impact. If BB had decided not to carry HD-DVD online and in their major metro stores, then I would say BB had definitely chosen a side. I am honestly running into fewer and fewer people who walk into B&M's to rent movies, so BB's store closings only appear to reflect this trend. Consumers appear to be either buying the films new or renting them at Netflix or BB online, thus, bypassing the actual stores.

 

[Phil Iturralde]

A little more details in ... "Blockbuster plans to shutter 282 domestic stores this year" By MATT CURRY - Associated Press Writer


Phil

 

[Douglas Monce]

I went into a BlockBuster store yesterday to check out the Blu-ray rentals. They had a huge selection, but not a single blu-ray disc was rented out.

I went and asked the manager how the blu-rays had been renting. He told me that they had only rented a handful since they started carrying them and even then the rentals they had so far were by people who brought them back because they wouldn't play in their DVD players.

Doug

 

[Alf S]

I'm betting that this happens a LOT more than we all know...

Thing is if this happens a lot, imagine the bad word of mouth from those folks who felt they got "duped" .."Hey this said it was high defenition and my TV is hi-def so why won't it play!?"... of course they then get peeved and tell their friends to avoid renting/buying the "Blu-Ray or HD-DVD discs because they don't work..."...

I can totally see what a cluster this BB rental thing would be to anyone other than hardcore HT enthusiasts.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

I have 3 roomates.

I've talked to them at length about Blu-ray high-def, and they watch movies on my PS3 in the basement even when I'm not home (on the projector) and they "get" that BD is something different than DVD blah blah blah. So they're probably 90% more informed than the "average consumer" who's never even heard of Blu-ray.

And it never fails... I come home and there's a Blu-ray disc in the living room coffee table because one of them has tried to watch it on the upstairs DVD player...

 

[Paul Arnette]

Well, people won't learn unless (or perhaps even if) they're exposed to it. But what's the alternative?

 

[Alf S]

I still contend that 98% of the public is and will be content with SD DVD for several more years...this format thing is a total fluster cluck and I don't think they want to mess with any of it.

 

[BrettB]

My BBV doesn't have all the BDs out yet, only ~56, and I think I counted 4 that were rented out.

As to confusion, right in the middle of the BDs they have signage letting the customers know that they need a Blu-ray player/PS3 to play them and just about evertime I'm in there they ask me if I have a Blu-ray player. This isn't rocket science.

 

[TravisR]

That's why I didn't understand why people were happy or mad that Blockbuster was supporting Blu-Ray. They could throw all the SD discs they have in the trash and only stock Blu-Ray, it doesn't matter if there aren't people renting them.

 

[Douglas Monce]

I still contend that the vast majority of the general public don't even know about HD DVD and Blu-ray, much less being confused about the format war. They aren't confused at all because they don't know about it.

Doug