At one point, Blockbuster used to be the go to place for renting videos. Although their collection was fairly limited, it was the only big player in town. The transition from VHS to DVD was easy. Same content on a different physical medium. Recently, despite desperate attempts, the company has failed miserably to transform from the physical generation to the online generation.
Of all the physical media businesses (books, music CDs, etc.), Blockbuster should have seen it coming a long time ago.
iTunes became popular.
E-books came onto the market.
People started renting DVDs online.
So why did a company the size and negotiating power of Blockbuster not do anything? They continued to rent DVDs at almost double the price of their nearest competitor, had ridiculous late fees and failed to form partnerships at a time where every medium was going digital.
They should have predicted it by looking at CD sales. They did not. They should have learned from Netflix's model. They did not. They should have come up with a streaming model. They did not.
When Hulu, a startup, has come so far in the past 3 years, it's baffling why a multi-billion dollar organization failed to sign any deals with their long-term content partners.
Out of everyone remaining in the current playing field, Blockbuster had the best leverage -- content. Comparatively, Netflix and Hulu are newcomers.
As someone who used to visit Blockbuster quite frequently a few years ago, it's still shocking to see that the company hasn't learned. Their retail stores are packed with junk and there's no ability to request content that isn't in store. Even free public libraries have that feature.
As one of the leading forces of content less than a decade ago, why didn't Blockbuster partner up with hardware manufacturers to leverage a full-fledged streaming service?
Nearly every new device today has Netflix. Hulu is also striking deals at a rapid pace. So, why didn't Blockbuster?
Over the past 3 years, there has been no improvement in how Blockbuster operates and what it offers. In the digital space, that's an entire generation.
As much as Blockbuster enjoyed its past, it's time to pack up. A company that can't innovate or experiment is a company that consumers don't want.
Aanarav Sareen is a content creator and digital media consultant. He blogs at Digital Media Business and publishes the monthly Digital Media Newsletter. He's also the host of the weekly Digital Media Podcast.
Follow Aanarav Sareen on Twitter: www.twitter.com/aanaravs
I don't think they've gotten good market penetration though, probably due to the fact that Redbox is already everywhere.
- cutting prices back drastically to stimulate traffic?
- making the stores look cooler?
- running frequent renter programs/special discounts/contests/in-store events or any one of a number of things other retail businesses do to build traffic?
Bottom line, Blockbuster considered itself like Ticketmaster. They didn't care if you hated going there because they thought they'd be the only game in town forever. And by the time they knew they were wrong, it was too late. A classic case of corporate arrogance properly punished.
Once the studios allowed same day releases of new movies on demand via cable and the web it was all over for video stores.
The Original owner of HV sold out with near perfect timing.
www.offthegridmpls.blogspot.com
Why not? Just look at how broadband providers are limiting bandwidth, throttling speeds, and charging an arm and leg for that service. All because a growing number of people are streaming content. Some of the contracts allow only "browsing" for data plans - that means using the internet for email, websites, and chat. No games, no movies, welcome to 1990... or pay extra!
In fact, there's a big backlash against Netflix for offerring poor streaming service, and trying to force it on people. I say "poor" because not all titles/episodes are available, and Netflix charges you MORE for having a DVD mail-in service option. The titles that Netflix does stream are crystal clear, however.
Blockbuster's lack of planning isn't due to not embracing streaming, it's because the content they DID offer through their mail-DVD service couldn't compare to Netflix. It was slower, it had a more limited selection, and frequently had titles that were out for weeks at a time. This, coupled with what you cited in the article - high late feeds, high rental fees, brick-and-mortar locations... led people elsewhere.
I still use Blockbuster and favor it over Netflix and Redbox.Why bother with instant queue from Netflix when I can return a movie to my local blockbuster and get another one free. It's still more convenient for me because I don't care about streaming nor do I want to be forced to watch movies on Redbox's time.
Its not as if every movie is available to stream anyway and Blockbuster still gets some movies up to a month before Redbox or Netflix.
Just my opinion though.
Learn these statistics (keep them in mind when you hear the sensationalist news reporting deaths, or when you or someone in your extended family procreates):
"On average, 36 million people die each year as a direct or indirect result of poor nutrition, which is more than 1 death each second.
58% of all deaths.
On average, one child under five dies every 5 seconds as a direct or indirect result of poor nutrition.
This is 6 million children per year, more than half of all child deaths."
Culture jamming corporatism/commercialism is very important in
Fixing
PRIORITIES
in today's societies,
the reason piracy is a pivotal part of this.
Proverbs 28:27 KJV
He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.
Now, Netflix instant view - THAT rocks. Perfectly smooth and sharp picture - especially the HD ones. Just wish more was available on it. Eventually, I guess.
Think Kodak, think (almost) IBM....
That shortsightedness on Blockbuster's part is the same model that kept them with Pan&Scan films instead of Widescreen, that kept them with censored/edited versions of films instead of the full feature.
About the only thing Blockbuster has done in the past five years that has been of any consequence to the movie viewing public at large was to side with Blu-ray during the short lived Format Wars 2: Electric Laser Boogaloo. That helped stem the tide to the Blu-ray camp and quashed HD-DVD. (Correct choice in my opinion.)
Who is to blame? Blockbuster are the only ones to blame. Bad business decisions steeped in antiquated business practices. They thought they had a monopoly on home DVD rentals and realized too late that the ability to queue up movies and have them delivered to you was what people wanted.