Blockbuster to close the remaining 300 stores.
Mark this sad week on your calendar, because this week is an indication of the changes in cinematic entertainment.
Blockbuster is dead.
In case you do not recall the mid nineties and nthe mid 2000s that perhaps, there was an increase in the number of blockbuster stores. Blockbusters pushed out independent video stores and replaced them with blue and yellow monuments. Blockbuster was previously owned by Viacom and was later purchased by the Dish Network. During Blockbuster’s prime they earned nearly $800 million dollars a year. But, this was partly due to the clear monopoly of video rental stores. But, the birth of Netflix brought video on demand. Thus, changing the way people purchased their entertainment.
Time Magazine recently commented on the Blockbuster Store closings:
Blockbuster’s brick and mortar locations will be extinct by New Year’s Day.
Although physical Blockbuster stores have been few and far between, parents company DISH announced Wednesday that it will shutter the doors of the last 300 U.S. stores by the end of the year and end its by-mail DVD distribution service by early January.
“This is not an easy decision, yet consumer demand is clearly moving to digital distribution of video entertainment,” DISH CEO Joseph P. Clayton said.
Instead, Blockbuster will focus on streaming content to DISH customers.(Times)
Few people will be upset and fewer will be saddened by the closings of Blockbuster. This is extremely critical. From once having a monopoly on the video rental industry to basically going out of business, movie theaters must be heavily concerned. Netflix plans to make more and more original productions and the increase in the number of independent production companies interested in using Netflix may put movie theaters out of business in the next 10 to 20 years.
Overall, this is a clear indication of a new form of cinematic entertainment; Video On Demand.
That being said, what are YOU watching this weekend?
Photo Courtesy of Film Drunk
