It is the end of the line for Blockbuster in Canada and movie fans saw that coming for a couple of years.
While online movies have put a dent in video store rentals, the problem with Blockbuster had more to do with pricing with blinders on.
A single new DVD release at our neighborhood Blockbuster comes to about $6.50 with taxes. Down the road, at a local convenience store, the same amount gets you two new releases for $6.75.
Blockbuster charges an extra dollar for Blu-ray movies. Down the road, no extra charge.
While online movies are convenient, especially during the winter months, there still is a need for rentals at local outlets if you want the DVD extras - deleted scenes, commentary, making-of features etc.
BTW: Netflix customers, did you notice the sudden boost of new arrivals on the day YouTube announced it is launching Canadian movies rentals?
And hey, you can watch Plan 9 From Outer Space and a lot of other older movies for free on YouTube.
The battle for your online movie dollars is heating up.
Sony's Qriocity and iTunes are up and running in Canada.
In the wings, Walmart's VUDU online rentals, not yet available in Canada.
You can get just about any DVD extra for free on You Tube.
ReplyDeletePlus there's a thing called torrents.
ReplyDeleteBlockbuster Canada was actually still making a good profit. The only reason it's shutting down is that it's U.S. parent went bankrupt and had to sell it off to pay its creditors. Perhaps unsurprisingly, DVD rentals aren't really something that people want to invest in.
ReplyDeleteCanadians still do the huge majority of their home video viewing via Blu-Ray and DVD though, unlike in the States. This is probably because there aren't a lot of agreements in place with Canadian rights holders to allow movies to be streamed online.
Convenience stores may offer cheaper rentals, but they lack the selection a Blockbuster offers. I'm just glad in live in Toronto, where you have a lot of great independent stores with huge collections. It would kind of suck though to be living in a smaller town, where Blockbuster was the only rental option, and to see it shutting down.
"Blockbuster Canada was actually still making a good profit. The only reason it's shutting down is that it's U.S. parent went bankrupt and had to sell it off to pay its creditors."
ReplyDeleteSort of sounds like the Movie Gallery chain. They were a smaller Canadian chain that seemed to be doing OK but got zapped due to problems in the U.S.