File this one under "the more things change, the more they remain the same." Warner Bros., upset that Blockbuster isn't willing to honor a 28-day delay between when a DVD can be sold and when it can be rented, isn't sending the retail chain any more new releases.
Blockbuster, which was purchased earlier this year by satellite TV provider Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH), has instead been buying the discs on the open market and renting them.
"They felt it was important to continue to offer day and date rental so rather than work with us they went around us," Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Bros Home Entertainment, told the Financial Times. Blockbuster declined to comment.
Dish Network, meanwhile, in September launched a streaming service for its customers, Blockbuster Movie Pass.
Dish initially will offer about 4,000 movies and "hundreds" of on-demand TV shows for delivery to a computer and 3,000 available to TV screens. Subscribers also will have access to older titles from some Dish movie channels (think EPIX, MGM and the Sony Movie Channel). Customers can also get DVD and games by mail and unlimited DVDs and games from brick and mortar Blockbuster stores. Dish offered no timeline for extending the offer to non-customers.
For more:
- see this Home Media Magazine article
- see this Financial Times article
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