Comments on: Blockbuster Express Seeing Major Expansion in September

By: Blockbuster’s VOD Service Extends its Reach | Inside Redbox

Blockbuster’s VOD Service Extends its Reach | Inside Redbox — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:52:16 +0000

[...] the major expansion of its kiosk network and these latest deals, Blockbuster is certainly demonstrating that it [...]

By: moviecrazy

moviecrazy — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:34:52 +0000

Where is “around here”?

By: slidecage

slidecage — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:22:38 +0000

i would buy one but the COST is insane… if i did buy one though i wold only stock video games since i know of a few places i can get ps2, ds and psp games as low as 1.00 each to keep and xbox 360 and wii and ps3 ames for 6

By: offthegrid

offthegrid — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:12:19 +0000

I signed up for this just to check it out. They are in Tedeschi’s around here already and I imagine more locations soon.

The bad news is you cannot reserve a video from what I can tell as you can with RedBox which is a HUGE difference and the return time is 7pm where RedBox gives an extra 2 hours till 9 which for me makes a big difference.

By: Blockbuster Dodges the Reaper (For Now) | Inside Redbox

Blockbuster Dodges the Reaper (For Now) | Inside Redbox — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:09:55 +0000

[...] $675 million. The influx of funds will let Blockbuster continue expanding its digital offerings and kiosk network. “The new financing will allow the company to make investments designed to grow the [...]

By: Blockbuster to Close Nearly 20% of Store Locations | Inside Redbox

Blockbuster to Close Nearly 20% of Store Locations | Inside Redbox — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:19:46 +0000

[...] Blockbuster stores will be closing over the next twelve months, the company’s plans for a major expansion of their kiosk business remain in place. By the middle of 2010, Blockbuster plans to have 10,000 [...]

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:15:37 +0000

So the guy wants his own company to make money, and somehow that’s illegal or wrong? Yeah, sure.

If the suppliers, e.g. Universal and Warner and Fox, all get together and decide to cut out access to Redbox and favor Blockbuster, that might be collusion or anti-competitive. But if their customer, with no control of the policy, simply agrees with it, that’s nothing except good business on Blockbuster’s part. (Which will probably be the first and last time I ever say that about Blockbuster).

If the studios and BB were so chummy, you’d have thought they would have made money at least one of the last four (at least) years. Which they didn’t.

By: JJJ

JJJ — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:14:42 +0000

Well, there it is. Anti-competition, anti-trust and there must be some sort collusion/connection with the big studios.

Follow the money trail.

“Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes supports the efforts of the studios in restricting kiosk rentals to 28 days after release, because it will help his Blockbuster retail locations.”

By: Sony?

Sony? — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:24:44 +0000

*Taxes and interest could be well over $500 per month per machine.

I’ll dissect it a different way. Net Income is the main number to look for.

Based on article submitted by Jack. This Quote, “Overall, Coinstar’s second-quarter net income doubled to $6.96 million”

A terrible way to do it, but I’ll assume Coinstar Broke even on all other aspects of their business and assume the 6.96 million was all the result of Redbox.

That’s a NET Income of around $130 per machine.

Anyway, neither way is a good way to come up with a number.

However, I think the number is far closer to the $100 per machine than $500+.

My guess, since net income doubled the past quarter, is that RB was working on a Net Lose up until recently. If Coinstar’s other ventures were working at a positive net income, it may even be a safe bet to believe that RB is still working on a Net Loss.

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:08:56 +0000

Michael,
A hypothetical explanation of the difference between your depressed $91 per kiosk figure vs the derived $537+ figure from the media-reported figures for Q2:

http://www.dvdtown.com/news/redbox-profit-grows-as-execs-at-coinstar-eye-more-studio-deals/6899
and here: http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6674780.html

might be:

1) The legal expenses for the various lawsuits may have been excluded from what has been reported to the media for the Redbox-only figures but reported on Coinstar’s books.
2) The financing costs and other costs for the acquisition from McDonald’s may have been high and would be on Coinstar’s books