Archive for October, 2010
One hot topic in the home entertainment industry is the increasing percentage of consumers who are becoming “cord cutters”—users who choose to drop their cable television subscriptions in favor of alternatives such as streaming and downloading.
Cable monstrosity Comcast, which for many consumers embodies everything that is wrong with the cable industry, has lost nearly 300,000 subscribers in the last quarter alone and now has fewer than 23 million. This puts it behind Microsoft’s Xbox Live service, which now boasts more than 25 million users across 26 countries.
Netflix’s CEO, Reed Hastings, declared that Netflix was now “a streaming company” during his Q3 results commentary last week. But Netflix’s transition to a streaming-dominated model has not been cheap, and costs will continue to rise.
Apple, who recently revealed another outstanding quarter’s financials, is sitting on a war chest of more than $50 billion (yes, billion) dollars. With one of the world’s most successful companies holding on to that kind of cash, it’s inevitable that the industry will be abuzz with possible candidates for acquisition.
Names such as Sony, Facebook and Yahoo have all been thrown around as possible M&A targets for Apple, but it’s also possible that Steve Jobs and co. could have their eyes set on streaming and DVD-by-mail powerhouse Netflix.
He’s at it again. About a week ago, Merriman Curhan Ford analyst Eric Wold suggested that a streaming partnership between Redbox and Amazon would be mutually beneficial. Today, Wold made the same proposal, but swapped Amazon out for the world’s largest retailer, Walmart.
Here are the movies that are coming to Redbox this week (October 26, 2010):
Get Him to the Greek, Winter’s Bone, Lake Placid 3, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, Attack on Darfur, Jim Henson’s Pajanimals, and The Girl Who Played with Fire.

Starring: Jessica Lowndes,Juliana Guill,Ryan Donowho,Landon Liboiron,Jake Weary
Genre: Horror,Action,Horror,Sci-Fi,Thriller
Release Year: 2010
movie details / trailer
Starring: Billy Zane,Edward Furlong,Kristanna Loken
Genre: Action,War
Release Year: 2009
movie details / trailer
Starring: Jonah Hill,Russell Brand
Genre: Comedy
Release Year: 2010
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Starring: Jonah Hill,Russell Brand
Genre: Comedy
Release Year: 2010
movie details / trailer
Starring: Yancy Butler,Colin Ferguson
Genre: Action,Drama,Sci-Fi
Release Year: 2010
movie details / trailer
Starring: Kevin Conroy (V),Tim Daly (v)
Genre: Action,Animated,Sci-Fi
Release Year: 2010
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Starring: Michael Nyqvist,Noomi Rapace
Genre: Drama,Foreign,Thriller
Release Year: 2009
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Starring: Michael Nyqvist,Noomi Rapace
Genre: Drama,Foreign,Thriller
Release Year: 2009
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Starring: Sabine Azema,Andre Dussollier
Genre: Drama,Foreign
Release Year: 2009
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Starring: Jennifer Lawrence,John Hawkes
Genre: Drama,Drama
Release Year: 2010
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Starring: Jennifer Lawrence,John Hawkes
Genre: Drama,Drama
Release Year: 2010
movie details / trailer
What will you be watching this week?
Despite a stellar third quarter, particularly in the streaming area, Netflix may be in for a rough road ahead when it may be forced to pay more for content acquisition and marketing. One of the few blemishes in its Q3 financials was Netflix’s subscriber acquisition cost (SAC), which was the highest of the year at 14.5%.
Even in the throes of bankruptcy, Blockbuster can’t seem to catch a break. After having the motives of its CEO and largest shareholder recently called into question, now a group of BB’s unsecured creditors have filed a motion questioning the way the company is going about repaying its debts to major movie studios.