Blockbuster just acquired MovieLink, a deal that was anticipated by Wall Street, but many are doubtful whether this can save Blockbuster. Blockbuster and Netflix have been in an all out price war for the last few months, taking losses in order to gain market share.

Since Netflix was far ahead of Blockbuster in the streaming movie arena with their Netflix Watch Now service, Blockbuster had to make a move – since everyone knows movies on demand will put the DVD rental concept out of business eventually (but it might take a decade).

For Blockbuster this might be a winning move if they give their customers access to movies as part of their Blockbuster Total Access offering. However, considering they’ve been losing millions of dollars every quarter and need to find a way to be profitable again, they’ll likely need to raise their subscription prices IF they make this a part of their offering.

One way or another it seems like they’re just trying to catch up with Netflix.

Posted on August 9, 2007