Reuters: Blockbuster CEO open to partnerships with telecoms. “As we move toward video-on-demand and pay-per-view, Blockbuster is well positioned not only to compete on our own, but also to partner with others,” said CEO Jim Keyes.
Not mentioned in this news bulletin is that Blockbuster was a smart but failed early innovator in this space. Your host pilot tested a Blockbuster-Enron VOD partnership back in 2001, when high-speed connections and video compression were not ready for mass consumption. Perhaps this time around Blockbuster will fare better.
I will also note here that due to Time Warner Cable’s less-than-robust bandwidth in my area, and its less-than-robust widescreen VOD offerings, I still go to Blockbuster and rent DVDs when I want to see a movie at home.