“Blockbusted!,” the front-page story in a recent edition of Variety, spelled out what many in video retailing have suspected for some time. Blockbuster Video, the behemoth that once seemed poised to devour the home entertainment world, is in a deepening financial slump.
According to Variety writer Jill Goldsmith, the Dallas-based corporation, with its 9,100 stores worldwide, “has become a dinosaur almost overnight.”
Though hardly on its last legs, Variety says that a “massive cash crunch” has cut Blockbuster’s stock in half over the past six months. There has even been speculation of a Chapter 11, though that is deemed “highly unlikely.”
Could adult entertainment be the answer? Says Variety, “Many insist that porn, which it doesn’t stock, would perk up Blockbuster’s profits.”
Blockbuster’s well-known resistance to XXX product has been endorsed by conservative organizations as much as it’s been deplored by the adult industry. Yet the demand for adult has risen substantially over the past few years, the same period that witnessed Blockbuster’s steady decline.
Still, don’t look for those Vivid titles at your Blockbuster outlet any time soon. “We don’t think adult video is consistent with our brand,” company spokesman Randy Hargrove told AVN.com. He also characterized as “not accurate” certain details in Variety’s story.
Variety does indicate that the lack of Adult Only rooms is hardly Blockbuster’s most pressing problem.
Video retailing itself is something of an endangered species. Rental revenue, according to Variety, has dipped overall by 15 percent since 2001, due in part to competition from Video On Demand and home delivery services like Netflix.
Blockbuster’s belated efforts to launch its own online service, costing “hundreds of millions” of dollars, contributed to its fiscal fizz, Variety said, along with a recent “controversial” no-late-fee policy that drained considerable revenue.
Then there is competition from price-slashing retail giants like Walmart, which now claims 30-35 percent of the home rental business compared to Blockbuster’s 10 percent. Walmart, of course, is also porn-free. Would rethinking their no-adult policy help Blockbuster regain lost customers?
A moot question. If Blockbuster really is a dinosaur, as Variety claims, it’s going to take more than XXX movies to rejuvenate the beast.
