Blockbuster switches to single-day pricing

[CK SatGuy]

From the LA Times:
The days of the multi-day movie rental are officially over.
Blockbuster Inc. announced Friday that it is switching to single-day pricing in a bid to better challenge its fast-growing competitor Redbox. It's the first significant change at the struggling rental and retail chain since it was acquired by Dish Network in April for $320 million and a longtime executive of the satellite broadcaster was put in charge.
New releases will cost $2.99 the first day, while older films are $1.99 the first day. All movies will cost 99 cents for additional days. That's more than the 99 cents per day that Redbox charges for rentals every day, including the first.
Previously, Blockbuster charged $4.99 for a three-day rental.
By charging more for the first day, Blockbuster will be able to maintain what has been its one significant advantage over Redbox and its other, larger rival, Netflix: New releases from major studios available to rent the same day they go on sale. 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. all restrict Redbox from renting their DVDs until 28 days after they go on sale because they believe 99 cents is too low a price for a first-night rental.
Those three studios, along with Sony Pictures and Walt Disney Studios, also place similar restrictions on subscription rental service Netflix.
Despite expectations that Dish would move to close many of Blockbuster's retail locations, only a handful of the 1,700-plus it took control of in the sale have shut down. A spokesman for Dish said the company is still considering how many to keep open and that the decision rests in part on negotiations occurring with studios over the terms under which it obtains DVDs.
Dish has yet to details plans for a Blockbuster-branded digital offering to compete with Netflix's online streaming service that people close to the company said was part of the rationale for the purchase last month.
-- Ben Fritz
Blockbuster switches to Redbox-style single day rental pricing - latimes.com

 

[Bobby]

It's still way more than Redbox's $1.50 a day bluray charge.

 

[TheKrell]

I think it should go down to $0.99 28 days after release to compete with Redbox.

 

[Steve Mehs]

Wow, this has got to be the most pathetic attempt at competition I have ever seen. 'Yeah we'll lower our price but were still twice as much as the competition.' This whole Blockbuster thing is going to be one massive failure for Dish.

 

[CK SatGuy]

It's still $2.99 for new releases because BB is renting the movies the same day it goes on sale while with Redbox you'd have to wait 28 days after the sale date. I do agree that after the 28 days, BB should drop the rental price to $.99. There is a little good news though. A quote from a TIME article:
"Blockbuster is also running a free movie promotion, where if you rent a single movie for $2.99, you get unlimited free rentals of movies priced at $1.99 or less, one at a time, through July 4."
So basically if you rent a $2.99 movie you can get a free rental of an older movie through July 4.

Blockbuster Wants You Back, Lowers Prices - Techland - TIME.com
​

 

[Tampa8]

Seems like the "I want something for nothing" complaint. As ckhalil18 correctly points out, and as the article clearly also makes a huge point about, you are paying to rent a movie available about a month before it is available elsewhere for rent. Maybe their pricing could be lower after the month, but can you get movies online from Redbox? I'm just pointing out some differences between the two that might account for a higher rental cost.

 

[hammerdown]

I wonder how they will handle me when I come in to the store to use my "Total Access Plan" which includes 5 free in-store exchanges per billing month? The current rule is that I can keep the exchanged store disc for 3 days, then they charge .99 each additional day. If they tell me I can only keep it for one day then they have to charge me .99/day, they will loose my business.

 

[yaz96]

dumb dumb dumb

 

[yaz96]

It's still $2.99 for new releases because BB is renting the movies the same day it goes on sale while with Redbox you'd have to wait 28 days after the sale date. I do agree that after the 28 days, BB should drop the rental price to $.99. There is a little good news though. A quote from a TIME article:
"Blockbuster is also running a free movie promotion, where if you rent a single movie for $2.99, you get unlimited free rentals of movies priced at $1.99 or less, one at a time, through July 4."
So basically if you rent a $2.99 movie you can get a free rental of an older movie through July 4.

Blockbuster Wants You Back, Lowers Prices - Techland - TIME.com
​

That 28 day window is only for 3 studios.

Seems like the "I want something for nothing" complaint. As ckhalil18 correctly points out, and as the article clearly also makes a huge point about, you are paying to rent a movie available about a month before it is available elsewhere for rent. Maybe their pricing could be lower after the month, but can you get movies online from Redbox? I'm just pointing out some differences between the two that might account for a higher rental cost.

Always have to defend Dish no matter what.

That 28 day window is only for 3 studios.

They will be charging $2.99 for first night for all studios.

 

[Tampa8]

"20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. all restrict Redbox from renting their DVDs until 28 days after they go on sale because they believe 99 cents is too low a price for a first-night rental.Those three studios, along with Sony Pictures and Walt Disney Studios, also place similar restrictions on subscription rental service Netflix" I count five of the major studios for Netflix, and the three others are three biggies....

Also, didn't Blockbuster go broke? Maybe their business plan for today's world didn't work? So you want the next owner to do the same thing?

 

[mike123abc]

There is a big difference between a store and a vending machine. Thinking that they can have a retail outlet and charge the same price is a bit unrealistic.

Dish is trying to wrest the blockbuster name away from NCR's vending machines. Perhaps they are considering vending machines for movies over 28 days at a lower price -- you go to the store the first month and pay more if you want the movie, otherwise find a vending machine?

It is a bit early to figure out exactly what they are planning at this stage.

 

[Tyralak]

There's also about 40 titles to choose from in a Redbox machine. There's hundreds in a Blockbuster store.

 

[Tampa8]

Mike123abc and Tyralak make good points. I mentioned that Red Box isn't available online, but should have mentioned the selective few rentals available at a box. Comaparing the two really doesn't work. It's not so much defending Dish, but trying to show the difference in service between Red Box and Blockbuster, or even Netflix and Blockbuster.(28 day wait) That was the reason for saying trying to get something for nothing. You just can't expect a full service like Blockbuster to have the same prices as choosing from a few tittles from a vending machine, and no way to rent online or possibly still in some cases go to a store.

 

[meStevo]

The success of Redbox would seem to indicate that libraries of older titles aren't really all that valued. Not to mention the explosion of on-demand video eroding the need for stores to carry catalogs of old titles when they can be rented online or viewed for free otherwise. If you can't find it online you probably won't find it at a Blockbuster.

A lot of influential data points there that we can only speculate on, including the previous the pricing structure getting people to not bother walking into a BB to begin with, but I don't see this doing much to change Blockbuster's fate.

IMO all it would take is Redbox to cave and sell at $1.99 and get the 1st day rentals and there's nothing more that could be done to save the remainder of the Blockbuster stores that Dish has decided to keep prop up post-acquisition. They won't do that, so the battle rages on, I'm not sure what BB is doing is enough though.

 

[Laddyboy]

Mike123abc and Tyralak make good points. I mentioned that Red Box isn't available online, but should have mentioned the selective few rentals available at a box. Comaparing the two really doesn't work. It's not so much defending Dish, but trying to show the difference in service between Red Box and Blockbuster, or even Netflix and Blockbuster.(28 day wait) That was the reason for saying trying to get something for nothing. You just can't expect a full service like Blockbuster to have the same prices as choosing from a few tittles from a vending machine, and no way to rent online or possibly still in some cases go to a store.

Redbox doesn't currently have online streaming, but is planning to have that in place at some point.

Report: Redbox ready to battle Netflix streaming | The Digital Home - CNET News

 

[jimdandyvi]

If you read the fine print in the Block Buster offer it does not apply to the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico. To bad because the Block Buster store on St Croix seems to be doing OK. Redbox doesn't exist in the USVI and it takes four days for a DVD from Netflix to arrive here by mail.

Jim

 

[David Taylor]

Today's Penny Arcade comic strip is appropriate...

 

[cosmo_kramer]

Just got this in my inbox, with a coupon attached:

We want you to stop by and see what's new at your store, so we're offering a special deal: unlimited free rentals!

Just rent one of our newest releases for $2.99 and enjoy unlimited movies priced $1.99 or less for FREE through July 4 (1-day rentals, 1 at a time).

 

[yaz96]

Just got this in my inbox, with a coupon attached:

INteresting, from Dish or Blockbuster? Do you currently use BB, BBexpress,or BB online?

 

[cosmo_kramer]

INteresting, from Dish or Blockbuster? Do you currently use BB, BBexpress,or BB online?

BB.

I used to belong to their rewards program years ago (when my kids were young), and they apparently still have my email in their system. We have probably rented 3-4 movies in the last year from our local store...