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Blockbuster has jumped in bed with Comcast and should they produce any offspring you can be sure that the combined DNA of these two companies will spell nothing but trouble with a capital “T” for consumers.
A talking head for Comcast describes the deal as a marketing agreement where Comcast will be able to offer discounts on Blockbuster’s DVD-By-Mail service to certain Comcast customers. As part of the agreement, Comcast will not take a cut of any related revenue, but will provide deeper discounting for customers who decide to take advantage of the Blockbuster DVD-By-Mail service. It wasn’t immediately clear how much the deal might be worth to Blockbuster.
“It’s not about a financial benefit, but about targeting (our) the products to Blockbuster customers,” the Comcast talking head said.
As part of the model, Blockbuster stores have been promoting Comcast’s triple-play (otherwise known as the “3-Card Monte”) services.
Here’s the real scoop folks…Blockbuster is in big financial trouble and is grasping at straws. Comcast sees an opportunity to get some cheap advertising through Blockbuster, but mostly they want their customer list. When Blockbuster goes bankrupt about 18-months from now, Comcast will swoop down on all of the former Blockbuster customers with a “teaser” deal that they can’t refuse.
It is no different than a street corner crack dealer handing out free samples to the neighborhood kids to get them hooked so they can score the BIG BUCKS on the back end.
COMCAST…DEALING YOUR FAVORITE DRUG SINCE 1963
Blockbuster makes the worst decisions. Remember when Blockbuster considered acquiring Circuit City? This doesn’t make things much better for Blockbuster at all. I’ll bet it was even Blockbuster that recommended Comcast only allow CERTAIN customers have discounts since Blockbuster is known for its rules and horrific service.
Comment by Nomo Blockbuster — August 16, 2010 @ 6:37 pm
Yeah, it’s unfortunate because in my opinion Blockbuster had a DVD-by-Mail service that BLEW NETFlix OUT OF THE WATER at one time. We started out with NetFlix which started OK, but then they started throttling (which they eventually got busted for in a class action suit), so we switched to Blockbuster. We were on a ‘three-at-a-time’ plan with them that cost about the same as NetFlix. About 1-year into the subscription, they announced that we could turn in our mailers at the store and trade them in for any available title off the shelf at no additional cost! It was pure genius! They are saving on the cost of the return postage and generating potential impulse-buy revenue at the local store…and NetFlix couldn’t compete because they don’t have any brick and mortar stores!
Unfortunately some marketing guru came along and broke the first cardinal rule which is NEVER TAKE AWAY SOMETHING YOU HAVE ALREADY GIVEN AWAY. The idiots started limiting the trade-ins and put a monthly cap on them. The rest is history.
Comment by admin — August 19, 2010 @ 10:31 pm
UPDATE: Blockbuster is now up for sale, having failed in bankruptcy proceedings, and those even considering bidding need to really take a good look around. Obsolete stores, a mountain of debt and a tarnished brand name do not make for a good investment. Skip the sale and go straight for liquidation instead.
Comment by Nomo Blockbuster — February 14, 2011 @ 7:54 pm