Really Rocket Science

It was in the cards. Keeping Blockbuster retail outlets open for video rentals is not a good business. The future, my boy, is “streaming.”

However, if you convert parts of the store into a Dish Network service center, you may have a really good proposition on your hands. Via Reuters…

“We are committed to keeping the profitable stores open that are generating positive cash flow, but there are ones that aren’t going to make it,” Clayton said in an interview. “We will close unprofitable stores. We will close additional stores.”

Clayton would not give a time frame on the closings or say how many stores were currently unprofitable. Spokesman Marc Lumpkin said the closings will be on a “case by case” basis.

Clayton, who became CEO of Dish last year when billionaire Charlie Ergen stepped down to focus on Dish’s wireless strategy as chairman, said the stores that stay open will sell Dish subscriptions and may one day provide customer support for its television customers.

“If a consumer has a problem, just bring your box in and we’ll give you a new one so you don’t have to stay at home and wait for an installation,” he said.

Subscribers to Dish’s Latino service may also be able to pay their TV bills in stores in metropolitan markets, he added.

Dish has tried to tap the Blockbuster brand by unveiling a new Internet streaming service and a program to rent DVDs by mail, in a bid to challenge Netflix Inc.

If they buy Hulu and add wireless spectrum to serve their streaming business, Dish Network can be very well positioned in remaining a good business model.

Say it ain’t so, Joe.

DISH Network’s Blockbuster brand will unveil a streaming service on Friday, via the Denver Business Journal…

CEO Joe Clayton and Blockbuster President Michael Kelly are scheduled to unveil the service from San Francisco in a press conference dubbed “A Stream Come True” (held via Ustream web streaming service, appropriately enough).

Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH), which rarely underplays a promotional opportunity, promises the service will be “the most comprehensive entertainment package ever!”

In addition to having the webstreaming technology that Blockbuster used, Dish Network has been rumored to be bidding for the online video service Hulu.

Whatever the outlines of the new Dishbuster service, it’s likely to salt Netflix’s recent wounds.

Shortly after buying Blockbuster, Ergen said the purchase wasn’t meant to knock Netflix from the top spot in movie-streaming, because Netflix likely had an insurmountable subscriber lead.

Last week, though, Netflix forecast actually losing subscribers this quarter, and falling 1 million short of its third-quarter projections.

On Monday, the 24 million-subscriber company surprised observers and sent its stock price lower by announcing it’s splitting the company — Netflix will focus exclusively on online movie streaming, and a new wholly owned subsidiary, called Qwikster, will carry on Neflix’s legacy business of shipping DVDs to subscribers by mail.