Stick ’Em Up: Blockbuster vs. Netflix

The recent of the Blockbuster on Golden Lantern was a surprise to many who have followed the company’s recent tumultuous financial situation. Now, with competitor Netflix’s recent fee increase, Blockbuster LLC may be poised for a comeback.

Having been threatened and severely financially damaged by the massive success of the online DVD rental-by-mail company Netflix, over the past several years Blockbuster has struggled, this year declaring bankruptcy with more than 500 stores poised for closure. When the assets were purchased by Dish Network, some locations slated for a close were saved, including the Golden Lantern location.

Marc Lumpkin, director of corporate communications for DISH Network and Blockbuster said that since the takeover, “we have been working to revitalize the brand.”

Netflix’s announcement last week to increase its fees 60 percent, and the subsequent outrage inspired in many of its 23 million subscribers, could be Blockbuster’s second chance.

Since Dish Network’s takeover of the company this past spring, many changes have taken place. One of the biggest: “We’ve lowered our prices significantly," said Golden Lantern location manager Trevor Barham.

There have also been changes to Blockbuster’s popular online program, which delivers DVDs by mail and includes in-store exchanges. Barham said the program now offers unlimited free in-store exchanges, an advantage that Lumpkin notes customers can’t get with Netflix. Since the Netflix fee increase, “we’re seeing a lot of interest,” Lumpkin said.

So what was all the hullaballoo? Netflix, according to a press release of July 12, is “no longer offering unlimited plans that include both streaming and DVDs by mail. The unlimited streaming plan will remain at $7.99 a month. The price for getting both unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be $15.98 a month ($7.99 + $7.99).”

For those Netflix users who only stream video, this increase didn’t have much of an effect. As one local Netflix user put it, “I don’t really care that the prices went up because I don't get DVDs in the mail anyway—straight streaming,” but for many, especially those who stream and order DVDs via mail, it’s been a major point of contention.

It’s become a veritable sensation of recent days, with online protests of the fee increase abounding across the Internet on blogs and Twitter feeds. According to Lumpkin, Blockbuster was “inspired by the backlash against Netflix.” Its new marketing campaign directly targets disgruntled Netflix customers, with a special rate for former Netflix users looking to switch. This new campaign grew out of this consumer sentiment that was found abundantly on social media after the fee increase: “Goodbye Netflix, Hello Blockbuster.”

Since Netflix’s fee increase, Barham said that in Laguna Niguel, “we’re already seeing an increase in traffic, and we expect an additional increase in our online program.”

There are those who use neither Blockbuster nor Netflix, like Laguna Niguel born-and-raised Lauren Gennaway, who now attends UCLA. She said, “usually, when I want to watch a movie, I just watch it on YouTube or I buy it. When I was younger, my family always went to Blockbuster, but we stopped going when we got the HBO, Starz, and Encore channels. My mom still rents DVDs from the OC Library.”

With more free online viewing options, it may be harder and harder for companies like Blockbuster and Netflix to compete with the best price of all: free. But for now, it seems that Netflix’s fee increase just might save the day for Blockbuster.

Fed up with Netflix and Blockbuster? Check out these suggestions on how to do without.

And if the whole thing’s so frustrating that you feel forced to renounce all forms of audio visual entertainment…there’s always your local library.