Blockbuster, owned by Dish Network, has nixed plans to stream movies through Dish mobile devices. According to Bloomberg, Dish bought satellite spectrum to stream Blockbuster movies to handset devices last year. These devices were to be sold in Blockbuster stores. But the FCC is still working through the approval process that will give Dish permission to use the spectrum they purchased. Charlie Ergen, founder and chairman of Dish, expected to receive approval much sooner. So without the wireless network in place, Dish is scrapping its plans. Ergen said “You make a lot of mistakes in business.” He went on to say that “I don’t think Blockbuster is going to be a mistake, but it’s unclear if that’s going to be a transformative decision.” Dish is also closing some of its remaining brick and mortar Blockbuster movie rental stores. “When your lease runs out on the stores, you can’t re-up because you can’t make enough money from just selling DVDs,” Ergen said. Bloomberg reports that Dish still plans to push forward with a streaming service to rival Netflix, but it’s “years away.”
Bloomberg also reported that “Dish no longer has plans to use Blockbuster as a nationwide video streaming or DVD-by-mail service.” Blockbuster has DVD and video game rental plans by mail that costs between $9.99 and $19.99. And Dish offers its subscribers Blockbuster @Home which provides DVD titles and games by mail, streaming content, and over 20 extra satellite channels for an additional $10 per month.
