Dish Network Blockbuster
posted Saturday Apr 9, 2011 by Scott Ertz
After waiting since its initial bankruptcy filing in November the long wait is over to find out the ultimate destination of Blockbuster Video's auction, and the winner is - Dish Network. Why, you may wonder, would the country's third largest provider of subscription television want to purchase a bankrupt, irrelevant business concept? The answer is branding, of course.
While Blockbuster may not have relevance in the current video-streaming market, it has a name that everyone knows. In addition, the word is synonomous with something large and amazing - the summer blockbuster films. Combine that name with the pure size of Dish Network and you have quite a powerhouse.
However, how might Dish use the Blockbuster name and the existing stores? Hit the break to find out.
While Dish has been pretty quiet about the intentions with their newest aquisition, their executive vp of sales, Tom Cullen, did have this to say,
With its more than 1,700 store locations, a highly recognizable brand and multiple methods of delivery, Blockbuster will complement our existing video offerings while presenting cross-marketing and service extension opportunities for Dish Network.
If I read that right, it says Dish plans to use the Blockbuster stores to try and sell their Dish Network TV service. I believe in the past there was a series of stores that tried that exact same thing and failed. Its name was BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO. That's right, in an attempt to boost sales in any way it could, Blockbuster did try selling satellite television in its stores in the past, with about as much success as RadioShack or Best Buy have. It's up in every sotre, but if you ask an employee about it, chances are they will be clueless.
With that said, hopefuly Dish would train their own employees better than they do a third party retailer. The only challenge now is convicing people to come into the stores to begin with. The only thing Blockbuster has done in the last few years to accomplish that was to liquidate.
Of course, there is a lot going on we don't know about, so maybe there is some secret plan that will rejuvinate the business - like offering Dish Network subscribers a Netflix-like service right on their receivers, plus DVDs by mail and in the store. That could certainly help. What would Blockbuster have to do to get you to go in? Tell us in the comments section.
