Blockbuster is finally expanding its digital presence, with a rental service landing on TiVo sets and several Samsung products.
TiVo users will be able to rent Blockbuster movies for a 24-hour period at $3.99 for new releases and $2.99 for "classic hits." The films are in standard definition, though Blockbuster says "select HD titles" are on the way. If all this sounds familiar, it's because Blockbuster and TiVo announced their partnership in March.
It's not clear why the service took so long to roll out. I'm guessing Blockbuster announced it months ago, before it was ready, to placate critics wondering how Blockbuster would compete with Netflix's online video offerings. In any case, the service is here now, and in a bit of cross-promotion, Blockbuster will be selling TiVo boxes in its retail stores.
As for Samsung, you'll now see Blockbuster rentals on HDTVs, Blu-ray players and home theater systems, enabled with a firmware update. This was also announced months ago, in July. In addition to renting at the same prices as above, consumers will be able to purchase movies, ranging from $7.99 to $19.99. As with the TiVo boxes, Blockbuster will sell Samsung products at its retail stores.
I like to give Blockbuster a hard time, but getting on as many devices as possible is a good strategy. Still, this is going to be an uphill battle for the ailing rental giant. On the very same set-top boxes, Blockbuster will have to compete with Amazon's On Demand service, along with Netflix for those who want a monthly subscription for unlimited streaming instead of pay-per-view downloads. And Netflix is still winning the war to be on more boxes, including the Xbox 360, its own Roku player and products from LG and Insignia.
So, as it always seems with Blockbuster, the question arises: Is this too little, too late?
