Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) and DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) are looking to capitalize on their bandwidth with new movie deals that could transform how the services are perceived. But it might be a bumpy road getting there.
Dish agreed to pick up Blockbuster Video for $320 million earlier this month. Analysts are split on the deal. Some believe Dish paid too much for a waning asset. Other see synergies with Blockbuster's streaming rights and 125,000 movie titles that could augment Dish's VOD offerings.
Meanwhile, DirecTV has been talking to major movie studios about launching a new $30 movie rental service that would deliver films to homes only two months after they debut in theaters. Warner Bros., Sony, Universal and 20th Century Fox are convinced that some consumers, especially families, might be willing to pay $30 per movie for home-viewing before the films are available in DVD format or from distributors such as Netflix.
Movie theater chains Regal Entertainment and AMC Entertainment are telling movie studios that they will not play or promote any movies that are part of the premium VOD service, according tovarious reports. The theater chains are worried that some people may prefer to wait until they can view the movies at home, rather than go out to a movie theater.
For more:
- Gizmocrave has this story
- Investors.com has this story
- Multichannel News has this story
- Forbes.com on theaters' reactions
- TV Week has this story