Is Blockbuster close to renting its last video?

[marmar]

....(snip)....

Blockbuster shares were in the red, down 3 cents, or 9%, to 33 cents. The company's fourth-quarter loss widened to $435 million, or $2.24 a share, on a charge related to the diminished value of certain assets. Last year, Blockbuster lost $359.8 million or $1.89 a share, in a year-earlier period that also included an impairment charge.

Excluding items, Blockbuster said its adjusted net loss was $44.3 million, or 24 cents a share. Revenue fell to $1.08 billion from $1.31 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet Research expected a loss of 14 cents on revenue of $1.08 billion. The company also said it continues to explore various recapitalization possibilities. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/salesforcecom-blockbuster-results-on-tap-2010-02-24?dist=afterbell

[Joanne98]

1. Yeah they're dead. Netflix killed them.

[trumad]

7. Netflix will be dead soon as well.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

11. Why do you say that?

I've been getting streaming films from them. Do you think the cable on-demand will kill them?

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Codeine]

25. Nope.

Netflix has transitioned seamlessly into the streaming-on-demand model; ain't goin' anywhere.

[Liberal_in_LA]

29. good

[TommyO]

53. What's best, is that I get Blu-ray discs, and streaming to my TiVo!

For less than I would pay to rent four movies at Lackluster Video, I get a month's worth of entertainment.

[Codeine]

54. Isn't it fantastic?!

All the film I could POSSIBLY watch for less than the cost of two movie tickets a month. And a catalog of niche films, foreign cinema, and classics that no video store could ever begin to supply.

Technology kicks ass.

[TommyO]

57. I know what you mean! I have plenty of discs from their gay/lesbian selection in my queue

Those are films that would never see the light of day in a Blockbuster or Hollywood.

[suffragette]

65. Love the selection on Netflix

That's what got me started with them awhile ago. They have more films I want to watch, especially ones that just aren't available through Blockbuster or Comcast or other providers.

Got a Roku and now also stream the watch instantly to the TV. Now that is on demand viewing.

[DainBramaged]

28. My friend do you have facts to back up your statement?

Netflix Announces Q4 2009 Financial Results
Subscribers – 12.3 million
Revenue – $444.5 million
GAAP Net Income – $30.9 million
GAAP EPS – $0.56 per diluted share


LOS GATOS, Calif., January 27, 2010 – Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) today reported results for the
fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009.
“Adding more than one million net new subscribers in the fourth quarter and nearly three million over the
full year highlights the growing appeal of the Netflix service as we further expand access to and adoption
of streaming movies and TV episodes over the Internet,” said Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder and chief
executive officer. “In 2010, we expect to extend our operating momentum as we grow the business both
rapidly and profitably.”



http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/NFLX/853350882x0x346847/7c386964-645e-425b-9e74-9357642fec52/NFLX_4Q09_Earnings_Release_012710.pdf

[Joanne98]

59. You're right. They're going to get killed by Walmart.

[Romulox]

63. No way. With Streaming, no service can compete with Netflix right now.

They need to stream stuff to my Iphone, and I'll be even MORE hooked.

[Hissyspit]

44. Their shitty service policies and censorship didn't help.

[CoffeeCat]

52. Do you guys have Redbox?

Redbox is killing the video stores in our area.

For those who don't have Red Box--it's a freestanding machine, about twice the size of
a pop/soda machine. You insert your debit card and you can rent movies, which
are instantly dispensed to you for only $1 a night. No late fees. You return the movie
the next day, it's $1. Keep it longer, it's $1 per day.

They have new releases as well as other selections. Of course, you don't get the
variety of a video store--but it is convenient and cheap.

The Red Boxes near us are outside of convenience stores, fast-food restaurants, grocery
stores and there is one inside a McDonalds.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

2. The selection is C-R-A-P...

...and I've seen two "Hollywood Video" stores fold in the last couple of months.

Seriously, anyone who can't wait until the NEXT DAY to receive the movie they want from NetFlix has much bigger issues than not getting their movie right now.

:rofl:

[KamaAina]

4. Add the Hollywood Video up the street from me to the body count

:hi:

[Liberal_in_LA]

23. Nearest HV's to me shut down. Drive to next nearest is too far. I have account but never go there

bye bye HV

[muffin1]

58. Our chain had 15 stores just four years ago.

Now we are closing our last store. We had a GREAT catalog section - we picked up at least one copy of EVERY movie - foreign, GLBT, documentaries, etc.

I've worked for this company for 20 years, now I'm going to be looking for a job, at age 49. Great.

There is just no way for a brick and mortar store to compete with Redbox and Netflix. I understand completely, of course. Who in their right mind would spend $4.00 per rental when they can get 4 from Redbox, and as many as they want from Netflix for $9.00?

Such is life...

:shrug:

[Skip Intro]

13. Going to BB is something you can do on the spur of the moment though, can't be quite as spontaneous

with Netflix.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

16. True, but the problem is that when you go...

...and the spur of the moment desire that got you through the doors is never satisfied, because the movie you want isn't on the shelves.

True, if you say "I want to watch a horror flick," they have them.

But if your spur of the moment hinges on a specific movie, there's at least a 50-50 chance that they don't have it.

Plus, it seems like most of the chip-on-the-shoulder stoner slacker smartass record store workers who lost their jobs when Tower went belly-up had a soft landing at Blockbuster.

[dysfunctional press]

50. i haven't had that problem at blockbuster in the past several years.

:shrug:

they've always got what i want.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

55. It's always going to vary from location to location...

...and the one that's just a couple of miles from me has everything I've described, PLUS carpeting that should have been ripped out and burned years ago. BIG stains.

[surrealAmerican]

64. That is no longer true.

If you have the hardware to "stream" movies, Netflix gives you immediate access to a larger catalog of movies than the local stores. You don't even have to leave your house.

[Ron Green]

3. I don't see how they can possibly maintain a storefront operation against Netflix and

other options.

[bluestateguy]

5. Video stores are so last century

Eventually they will only be found in ghettos where people don't have Netflix, high speed internet or OnDemand. And then eventually video stores will disappear all together once even the poor have access to these accessories.

This recession is just finishing them off faster.

[marmar]

8. Many people in "ghettos" have all those things......

Ghettos? Really?

[Liberal_in_LA]

26. +5

[npk]

6. I have always disliked their corporate practices

I feel bad for the employees, especially on this job market. But I want shed a tear for Blockbuster as a company. They have finally reaped what they have been sowing for years.

[condoleeza]

21. I won't shed a tear either, before they had competition they would fine you

and charge you for everything they could - they had the credit card # - good luck ever getting a bogus fine reversed. I cut up my BB card YEARS ago because of this and have only ever used (rarely) Hollywood Vid since then. We reserve movies online through our library now.

Hopefully the kids who work there can find other work. As people increasingly do their business online or from home, it's going to be interesting to watch where this trend goes and where the teenagers will find work in the future.

[Liberal_in_LA]

27. I'd rent a movie for $4.99 and get fined $4.99 for returning it 15 min late. Remember those days?

Before you could keep them for the week...they would gouge with the fines.

Regarding Hollywood Video. I was returned one video days early. I arrived at 11pm. The door was still unlocked because customers were still in line. I opened the door and dropped in my video. The cashier turned and said "that video is late". :spray: Fortunately the video wasn't due that day.

[npk]

31. The last straw for me was requiring a credit card for membership

I returned a rental PS3 game that I had rented for my son. Unfortunately my kid put the wrong game back in the case. The store waited four weeks before notifying my wife that there was a problem. In the meantime they took my credit card that was on file and charged me $237 for the rental loss and other late fees and damages. While it was partially my sons fault for not paying attention, it was completely unprofessional what Blockbuster did. And the company refused to take the charge of my credit card, even after the game was returned. I have stopped doing business with the company and it's partners.

[Liberal_in_LA]

33. OMG...that's horrible. With me, I rented a movie where the 'extras' DVD was missing. Returned the

movie then had to endure a few days of accusations by BB that I didn't return the 'extra' video. Eventually the store manager got involved...he remembered immediately that the 'extras' video wasn't included. But before we got it resolved, an employee would call me saying "the DVD is missing, how do you want to handle it"?

[npk]

35. Dealing with their corporate office was the biggest nightmare

They basically accused me of theft. In fact one lady I spoke to at customer service actually said to me, "Well you only returned the game after you found out that we were charging you for the replacement." I was so mad I literally had to put the phone down to avoid screaming at this lady. It was very frustrating.

[condoleeza]

40. Oh Yeah! remember it well. I'd return movies to the outside box WAY before noon

and they counted them in whenever they finally got around to taking them out of the box. NEVER got a fine reversed. They have failure coming to them, probably would have happened w/o their bad practices anyway, but very likely was hastened by them.

HV was founded by a guy who sold out years ago, he built the most butt ugly house on the river that runs through Portland, wish he'd have lost out on this too.

[KamaAina]

9. You must have me confused with someone who cares.

Those ratfuckers killed the MPAA's attempt to create a category between R and X, NC-17, simply by refusing to rent any NC-17 videos. Faced with that, the studios kept on doing what they were doing: self-censoring to get the R rating, and more rental $$$.

:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

[sendero]

10. As a company...

.. I've always disliked Blockbuster and am enjoying loads of schadenfreude at their problems.

Back in the nineties, they bought the last viable record store chain here in Dallas, and promptly told everyone there they had to get haircuts. Half the people working there were musicians that needed to look the part.

What a bunch of jackasses, like anyone coming to buy a record/CD gives a crap about the clerk's long hair.

Needless to say, Sound Warehouse didn't last long under these tard's management.

[hlthe2b]

12. They killed their own online service...

Depending only on the recent "blockbuster" releases and having minimal quantities of other fair-- They changed the terms of rental agreements constantly. Having a network of stores, they could have competed with Netflix and did for awhile, combining both online and in-store rental arrangements. I miss loss of video stores, but it is pre-ordained, just as it was with most music stores.

[Earth_First]

17. When they initially offered their online/mail delivery service, it was GREAT!

When you finished a film, you returned it in the mail or returned to a retail location for an instant in-store rental.

Only things worked out great for us in the beginning. We returned a movie by mail, and within 2-3 days our next two selections had arrived, we returned those, took them in, recieved two more, and in the mail two days later, another two movies. It was great.

Only then, it was taking longer and longer to recieve or next selections.

Two days, five days, a full week. Turns out that they began to "throttle" folks who they deemed were viewing too many movies a month, thus they felt that they werent making as much profit as they otherwise would have.

Such a shame. Were non cable subscribers, so this was a great deal.

[Codeine]

19. All the delivery services throttle.

It's happened to me a few times when I've been ripping through the Netflix discs, but lately I stream far more than I get in hard copy, so I've actually found myself holding movies for as long as a month.

[hlthe2b]

38. Yes... I had about a year that I actually enjoyed the service...

and I too am not a cable subscriber. I'm sad to see this happen, but not surprised.

[BadgerKid]

14. I saw a Blockbuster DVD kiosk recently.

I wonder if they are taking cue from Redbox.

[onehandle]

15. Video stores will die any minute, followed by DVD by mail services and DVD vending machines.

Streaming VOD by computer, set top boxes, phones, and iPad type tablets will kill removable media in no time at all.

[Codeine]

22. Netflix figured that out a while back.

Saw the writing on the digital wall and got their streaming service moving along nicely. I love the convenience of being able to discover, locate, and watch early silent films or contemporary foriegn cinema at the drop of a hat.

[DainBramaged]

30. I also. love me my NETFLIX

Built a box JUST for streaming video onto my LCD in the living room....and I still get 6 or 8 dvd's a month.

[Liberal_in_LA]

34. Some of us still have big fat thick TVs with digital antenna's attached, fat computer monitors, w/o

fast internet hookup. Slow down the march of technology please.

[condoleeza]

41. I feel ya

[skypilot]

60. Thank you.

And some of us actually LIKE going to the video store. I've never rented from Blockbuster but here in Philly we have a place called TLA video which has be around for over twenty years. I'd be crushed if it closed down. Even if they don't have the particular movie I want I still like the walk over there and I'm friends with a few of the employees. I also run into people I know while browsing. It has a great selection and I can almost always find something to rent even if my original choice isn't available. I'm in no rush to see so many brick and mortar stores closed and more people thrown out of work.

[TheCowsCameHome]

18. Too expensive these days.

[muntrv]

24. On demand is doing to video stores what Napster is doing to record stores.

Making them obsolete.

[condoleeza]

42. and the crap music that's being produced now is another symptom

of what happens when creativity is thrown away for corporate $. Soon there will be no more local bands - the dream is gone for all but a very few. Same with actors - their work goes up on the Internet without their agreeing to it. THAT possibility wasn't disclosed when they agreed to work for a % of profit and they lose all. It's happened to my daughter twice now - never again.

[customerserviceguy]

32. It was an intriguing concept

Back in 1985. Having live humans to check you out at video stores seems so 20th Century, though.

When my lady rents us a movie, she does so at Redbox from the grocery store. It doesn't take more than a computer to check out a disc, and that's why it's only a buck a day.

[taught_me_patience]

36. Soon you won't be able to rent New Release at Redbox

for 28 days.

[customerserviceguy]

56. Big whoop

If I really cared to see a picture that much, I'll plunk down money at the movie theater when it's first released. Generally speaking, that sums up what I think about most movies, I figure, "this doesn't look that great, I'll see it when I only have to spend a buck on it."

If that means waiting another month, so be it.

[samplegirl]

37. They are closing stores here.

[fishwax]

39. I've got a great local DVD store that blows Blockbuster (and Netflix) out of the water

They're just an independent DVD rental place, but their selection is much bigger than blockbuster's, and while there are a few titles that you can get on Netflix that you can't find there, there aren't many. And if you buy a rental block in advance they're super cheap, too (a buck for 3 nights). I know eventually rental places will disappear, but I think this one will hold out for a while.

Aside from that, there is also another chain here in town (Family Video) that isn't as big as Blockbuster, but offers a much better product than BB does. And unlike BB, they seem to be expanding ...

[givemebackmycountry]

43. Good. GOOD! GOOD! GOOD!

These rat fuckers.
Do you have any idea how many credit records were ruined by these bastards because of the draconian late fees they charged?
If you didn't pay your late fees they would send you to a collection agency for payment.
If like me you had a late fee and you moved, they would turn you over to a collection agency in a heartbeat.

Die, motherfuckers.

And didn't the guy that owned the Miami Dolphins years back, Wayne Hyzenga or something like that, he was one of the original BB parasites.
His team SUCKED and so did his company.

[An_Opened_Hand]

45. I just love the Ad bots....

When this post came up on my screen both banner ads at the top were for Blockbuster. I guess it's all Key Words, no content that's working those links! lol!

[Stinky The Clown]

46. Shifting paradigms

Blockbuster failed to keep up with the times and they died.

Netflix is at least trying to deliver instant streaming movies. FIOS and cable systems are already there because they own the pipes. I think they are the future.

[Canuckistanian]

47. Damn, I just got a membership card

Now I regret flipping off the OTHER video store manager in my town.

[Initech]

48. I've hated Blockbuster ever since their VHS-market monopoly, so good riddance!

[saltpoint]

49. Blockbuster became lackluster and began putting people to

sleep.

They didn't take enough risks. They tip-toed thru marketing strategies. They offered baby-food movies.

Better to support independent film rental places and film festivals.

[dysfunctional press]

51. as stores close- it's a great way to add to a dvd collection...

i've got close to 1,200 movies/tv shows on dvd...not counting the ones i've recorded myself.

[glen123098]

61. It costs 9 bucks to rent a game from them.

Thats just insane. No wonder they are going under.

[kudzu22]

62. I have a feeling that going to the video store

will be some archaic practice that we'll have to explain to our grandchildren someday. Kinda like grandpa talking about the soda fountain.