Another round of Blockbuster v. Netflix
With 25 days in the month to go, how do you reach your end-of-year subscriber goal? Poach from the competition. Lisa Napoli says, welcome to the continuing war between Blockbuster and Netflix.
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MARK AUSTIN THOMAS: Is it a Hail Mary pass or a touchdown strike? Lisa Napoli reports on a bit of strategy Blockbuster is using to draw customers from its competitor Netflix.
LISA NAPOLI: Blockbuster wants to sign up two million people by the end of the year for its online borrowing service.
So they’ve got a proposition for Netflix customers: Come into the store with a Netflix envelope, and you’ll get a Blockbuster rental for free.
Scott Swasey of Netflix isn’t worried. He calls the move . . .
SCOTT SWASEY: The proverbial football play where you throw the ball downfield and hope for the best.
Swasey says catching up with Netflix will be tough. It has six million subscribers.
And, he says, stay tuned for January when the company will announce plans to move into the digital download space.
Both Blockbuster and Netflix are preparing for the time when the battle between the video store and online rentals will be obsolete.
In Los Angeles, I’m Lisa Napoli for Marketplace.