Blockbuster hopes expansion plans will help maintain its viability

With so many ways for consumers to get their video these days, Blockbuster, once the dominant video rental store chain, has struggled to keep up with the times. Now, the Dallas, Tex.-based company is expanding its presence by not only opening about 10,000 video rental kiosks at various locations such as retail stores, but also by negotiating deals with movie studios to provide consumers with unreleased, independent films. In addition, Blockbuster will target the most obvious purveyor of video, the cable company, through Motorola as well as bringing movies to TiVO through an agreement with Samsung Electronics.     

Blockbuster's new video initiatives are aimed at putting the struggling video rental company on par with not only other kiosk-based video rental chains such as Coinstar's redbox DVD kiosks, but also Netflix's rentals, cable and satellite TV operators and digital movie services such as Apple's iTunes.  James Keyes, the CEO of Blockbuster, freely admits that the days of the old in-store video rental model are numbered and that they need to find a way to compete with the new generation of video rental chains. "We're going to have to change," Keyes, said. "It can't just be about the stores anymore."

For more:
- Wall Street Journal via Dow Jones has this article

Related articles
Time Warner: We're not interested in NBC Universal
Is Comcast's Brian Roberts overpaid?
Could a DirecTV acquisition bolster Verizon's video base