13 November 2009 12:10 PM, PST | Studio Briefing - Film News | See recent Studio Briefing - Film News news »
Consumers are not only buying fewer DVDs these days, they're also renting fewer -- at least from brick-and-mortar video stores like Blockbuster. The No. 1 DVD rental chain reported a third-quarter loss of $116 million versus a loss of $20.6 million during the comparable quarter a year ago. The company blamed the latest staggering loss on the costs incurred in paying severance to hundreds of dismissed employees, shutting down unproductive stores, and refinancing debt -- in effect saying that it costs money to save money. The cost-cutting, it noted, will continue during the current quarter with 115 more stores due to be shuttered by the end of the year. On the brighter side of things, Blockbuster said that it is moving more aggressively into the kiosk business and plans to have 2,500 opened by the end of the year. In a conference call on Thursday, Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes said that his company was also focusing on online delivery with its Blockbuster On Demand. "There's really only one threat to Blockbuster, and that's if we don't adapt," he said. »
Similar News Items
Jim Keyes- Blockbuster Goes Online With TiVo, Apple to Save Its Business (From Fast Company. 26 March 2009, 3:30 PM, PDT)
- Blockbuster To Make Stores Out Of TiVos (From Studio Briefing - Film News. 25 March 2009, 2:34 AM, PDT)
- Blockbuster In Deal With Online Service Cinemanow (From Studio Briefing - Film News. 14 January 2009, 1:41 AM, PST)
Blockbuster [us]
- Blockbuster to Sell Movie Prop Replicas (From Worst Previews. 29 May 2009, 9:00 AM, PDT)
- Blockbuster to Sell Movie Prop Replicas (From CinemaSpy. 28 May 2009, 10:10 PM, PDT)
- Blockbuster Going Under, Trying Anything (From newsinfilm. 28 May 2009, 5:54 PM, PDT)
