Film Renters Flee Blockbuster, Head Online

On the same day that Blockbuster announced that it had staved off bankruptcy by completing a private equity offering that brought it $150 million, the British trade publication Screen Digest published a report predicting that within four years, more than half the U.K.'s video rentals will take place online, following the Netflix example. Angus Woo, the co-author of the Screen Digest report, said: "The dramatic growth of the online rental sector shows how appealing the model is to consumers. Our cash-rich, time poor society values convenience very highly, and is willing to pay for it. At the same time, online retailers aren't restricted by the constraints of shelf space: they can afford to stock a wider choice of DVDs. It's that marriage of choice and convenience that is fundamentally changing the experience of video rental."
2005-12-20 17:44:12