Good article: Blockbuster dials back on Total Access after mail-order bloodbath at ArsTechnica.
Summary points:
After mortally wounding Blockbuster Total Access, they “lost 500,000 subscribers during the third quarter, many of whom [James] Keyes was “happy” to lose.”
Result? They’ve pretty much given up on pursuing Netflix for online rentals.
Now they are hitching their wagon to the Movielink money pit and will try to convince people to download movies with some sort of (let me guess, Windows only!) DRM software that will let you watch the movie once over a set period of time.
Yeah, this has success written aaaaaaaallllllllll over it.
I’d be looking more closely at Netflix stock if I was ready to invest somewhere. You may have hear there’s a writers’ strike going on. This would be the perfect time to try to get some new customers by telling them they can see “New To You” shows by renting the DVDs.
Personally we’ve got two stuffed TiVos and I doubt they will be empty by the time the strike is over.
I do wonder how well the “reality” shows will do once people realize that there are a lot of writers working on them.
“Wait, you mean that wasn’t all just pure happenstance? That totally witty guy and that cut-to-the-heart acerbic gal aren’t really that quick in real life?”
Yeah, I know, shocking.
Hey, who knows, if this goes on long enough, maybe people will start to read more.
Bwahahahahaha!
Yeah, I know, I could barely get the words out myself. Yeah, like that’ll happen. My guess is that YouTube may explode or collapse under its own weight if this strike goes on long enough.
WGA = Windows Genuine Advantage WGA = Writers Guild of America
Both of which are deceptive. “Genuine Advantage” doesn’t really offer you anything more than you had before they started WGA.
And the G in latter WGA really ought to be a U for “Union” but “Guild” sounds so much more writer-y, doesn’t it?
We’ve recently started watching MythBusters. My guess is that they could go a pretty long time without needing a Guild Writer.
But I digress.
Anyway, this could be a great opportunity for Blockbuster to introduce a new trial period and spend a little cash on advertising to capitalize on the strike.
Instead they are going for movie downloads, which so far not even Apple has been able to make really successful.
So, you know, good luck with that.