Dish’s Ergen Scraps Blockbuster Plans After Wireless Delays

[Scott Greczkowski]

Dish's Ergen Scraps Blockbuster Plans After Wireless Delays
By Alex Sherman on October 04, 2012

Billionaire Charlie Ergen is giving up on his plan to turn the once-mighty Blockbuster LLC video- store chain into a Netflix (NFLX) Inc. competitor and retail outlet.

When Ergen's Dish Network Corp. (DISH) acquired Blockbuster out of bankruptcy in April 2011, Ergen planned to use the stores to sell Dish mobile devices that could be used to stream Blockbuster movies. The plans broke down when U.S. regulators didn't immediately approve a waiver allowing Dish to use its satellite spectrum for terrestrial data and voice transmission.

"You make a lot of mistakes in business," Ergen, Dish's founder and chairman, said in an interview yesterday. "I don't think Blockbuster is going to be a mistake, but it's unclear if that's going to be a transformative decision."

Read the rest at http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...craps-blockbuster-plans-after-wireless-delays

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

When you are there take a look at that photo of Charlie... he wasn't that grey when I saw him a few months ago!

Hope the stress is not getting to him!

 

[GaryPen]

What might this mean for BB&H?

 

[gpollock87]

What might this mean for BB&H?

no clue. but, i don't wanna lose getting my discs in the mail.

 

[sethwell]

When you are there take a look at that photo of Charlie... he wasn't that grey when I saw him a few months ago!

Hope the stress is not getting to him!

He probably just ran out of Just For Men, or hasn't gotten to his stylist,er barber in a while.

 

[jevans64]

Quote from the article...

Dish no longer has plans to use Blockbuster as a nationwide video streaming or DVD-by-mail service, Ergen said.

Bye. Bye. Discs by mail. It will probably only be a streaming service.

 

[meStevo]

So he wanted to turn Blockbusters into Radio Shacks with rentals basically, but bigger than radio shack, with more lower margin items like electronics?

On top of that, he wants to sell a service that would need it's own handsets and devices?

Hell of a house of cards to align and make work, Blockbuster may end up being a slightly profitable deal at worst, but going down this rabbit hole doesn't seem like a good idea in the slightest.

I expect in the end Blockbuster will just be the name of their standard VOD offering that is identical to everyone elses (sans whichever channels they are having a dispute with at the time). They say in the article the acquisition was so they didn't have to start from scratch. So the goal was to placate current subs until they could get their other plans rolling, and they've gone backwards if anything as stores shuttered.

 

[William228]

Do you see the Blockbuster stores closing down?

 

[KAB]

30% stock increase over the last year! That's undeniable decent. Will have to look up D*'s numbers tomorrow.

 

[meStevo]

30% stock increase over the last year! That's undeniable decent. Will have to look up D*'s numbers tomorrow.

What does that have to do with moving on from their plans with Blockbuster? It's only up 30% because it's slowly recovered from a 30% drop just over a year ago 4 months after the BB acquisition.

 

[rocket69]

Shame shame. BB could be a great part of DN to bad they just dont know how to manage it. Every time i go into one the counter guy is just chatting up some woman or playing on there phone.

 

[thechaz05]

Do you see the Blockbuster stores closing down?

Well over the last couple years every store within about 400 miles of me has closed.

Sent from my phone using SatelliteGuys sweet app

 

[riffjim4069]

When you are there take a look at that photo of Charlie... he wasn't that grey when I saw him a few months ago!

Hope the stress is not getting to him!

Given the economy, Dish's flat subscriber base, ultra-competitive razor-tight profit margins in the Pay TV business, risky ventures into BlockBuster and Wireless technologies, ongoing battles with just about each and every programmer and, oh, top that off by a trail with Voom that may wind-up costing his company 15% of their net worth....no doubt he is stressed. As an outsider looking in, I'm sure this is just the tip of the iceberg (no disrespect intended towards our very own Iceberg) - his daily duties have to be equally challenging.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Well I see Blockbuster going bye bye for good. I said all along that DISH doesn't have the patience or the fortitude to keep a disc by mail service going and the streaming portion won't make it now either. Another opportunity dropped by DISH. Looks like the wireless idea is now gone too. What does that leave DISH now? Still satellite tv and only satellite tv. I think Charlie will now pivot to his internet only service for ala cart . Now I don't see it working any better than the other two ideas he has now scuttled. Especially since he has disputes with just about every company out there .

 

[lern4483]

Quote from the article...

Bye. Bye. Discs by mail. It will probably only be a streaming service.

Which is a waste of time. The streaming service
Is just an add on as of now. Yawn.

 

[downriver]

Since Dish is now vested in Roku Perhaps they will stream the BB library on Roku....a wireless platform that actually works

 

[meStevo]

Since Dish is now vested in Roku Perhaps they will stream the BB library on Roku....a wireless platform that actually works

Im not sure they're really is going to be a "BB library" to stream.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[yaz96]

Do you see the Blockbuster stores closing down?

Yes.

Why keep them, they are just costing them money.

 

[riffjim4069]

What does that leave DISH now? Still satellite tv and only satellite tv...

Make that rural bumpkin satellite TV since Dish Network customer don't care about AMC Networks programming or all that citified drug-dealin', women-chasin', zombie-killin' stuff.

 

[TheKrell]

Did I read that right? No more disks by mail?