The kings of the brick-and-mortar video rental world are gunning for the kings of the online video rental world. Blockbuster chairman and chief executive John Antioco has promised his shareholders the company will take it right to Netflix when Blockbuster launches an Internet-based rental service of its own later this year.
“Two million customers have spoken,” Antioco was quoted as telling his board, at the annual Blockbuster shareholder meeting, in what’s considered a significant shift from previous Blockbuster comments suggesting the company didn’t take Netflix and other online movie sources seriously. “We can’t continue to allow our customers to erode away from us. We are not going to ignore these folks.
Though Antioco offered few more specifics on Blockbuster’s online plans – a site has been in beta test with a monthly subscription price said to undercut Netflix, according to the Hollywood Reporter –he did hint the site would go online in full operation sooner than first planned.
“We will be launching,” he was quoted as saying, “when we’re ready to launch. I’m comfortable that it will be long before (the fourth quarter of 2004).”
The Reporter said Blockbuster wasn’t likely to replicate Netflix’s overnight delivery right away but would begin its online rental programs by getting DVDs to online renters within two days. The publication also said Antioco predicted about ten percent of Blockbuster’s customer base and 20 percent of the company’s revenues could come from online and in-store subscriptions predominantly by the end of 2005.
