$57m losses in the past three months
vnunet.com, 11 Aug 2005
US video rental chain Blockbuster has reported a loss of $57m for its most recent quarter compared with a profit of $48m a year ago.
The results are seen as an indication of the rapid changes affecting the video rental market, most notably the shift to online rental.
Losses were also attributed to the company stopping charging for overdue rentals in the US in January, and spending 26 per cent more on promoting its online service.
Blockbuster has also announced that it is to increase its monthly online fee from $14.99 to $17.99 in line with competitor Netflix.
The company has one million online subscribers which it predicts will rise to three million by April 2006. Netflix has 3.1 million subscribers.
The rental sector is also being buffeted by a lacklustre 12 months for the movie business which is expecting its worst ever year for attendances.
Remote access - Three steps to getting connected
3.4 million UK professionals now work from home – is your company equipped?
Cost benefits of a global collaboration network
This white paper is a must read for organisations looking for evidence of the bottom-line benefits of high-definition video and voice communications
Keep up to date with the latest products, services and technologies from the world's leading IT companies; IThound.com brings you over 6,000 white papers, case studies and analyst reports.
We chat to Mike Maddison, UK head of Security, Privacy...
Update designed to give mobile users a richer, more personalised...
More thoughts on how servers can help manage overload
Do you agree?
Have your say on this article