Did you even know that Blockbuster still existed? Well, apparently it did, until today. Dish Network announced today that it is closing all 300 remaining stores and will stop the DVD-by-mail service that carried the Blockbuster name.
“This is not an easy decision, yet consumer demand is clearly moving to digital distribution of video entertainment," Joseph P. Clayton, DISH president and CEO said in a statement. “Despite our closing of the physical distribution elements of the business, we continue to see value in the Blockbuster brand, and we expect to leverage that brand as we continue to expand our digital offerings."
The retail operation will cease to exist by early 2014, while the DVD-by-mail service is expected to end in mid-December.
According to Bloomberg, Dish will keep the Blockbuster name and continue licensing it out and using it for other Dish products. The Blockbuster On Demand, which was launched in 2011, months after acquiring the brand out of bankruptcy. The hope was that it could compete with Netflix, but it hasn’t proved popular.
Dish already divested the international Blockbuster arms in the U.K. and Scandinavia. In January, Blockbuster went into administration in the U.K. and then Dish closed 300 stores and 3,000 jobs.
The closing of Blockbuster officially ends an era where people had to go out to rent a video. Online streaming and Netflix’s own DVD-by-mail service have taken that role today.
image: Wikimedia Commons
