By David B. Wilkerson
CHICAGO (Dow Jones) -- Blockbuster Inc. will bring its
movie-download service straight to the television set thanks to a
pact it announced Wednesday with digital video recorder pioneer
TiVo Inc.
Dallas-based Blockbuster (BBI) currently offers thousands of
movie titles for download to the Web due to its 2007 acquisition of
Movielink. Beginning in the second half of this year, it will offer
downloads to TiVo's Series 2, Series 3, TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL
DVRs.
TiVo DVRs will be sold at Blockbuster stores around the U.S. and
at Blockbuster.com. The companies said they would both gain new
distribution outlets.
DVD-rental pioneer Netflix Inc. (NFLX) has cut severely into
Blockbuster's market share over the past several years with its
discs-by-mail service, forcing Blockbuster to adapt with an online
offering of its own. Now, Blockbuster wants to make sure it can
offer an alternative to Netflix's movie-streaming service.
Netflix also offers many films that can be streamed to the set
top through partnerships with Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Xbox 360 and
LG Electronics Inc. (LGEJY).
With unlimited plans starting at $8.99 a month, Netflix
customers can rent at least one DVD at a time and stream as many
movies as they like.
"Ultimately, our vision is to work with TiVo so that their
subscribers can access movies not only through our OnDemand service
but also from our stores and through our by-mail service as well,"
said Jim Keyes, Blockbuster's chairman, in a statement.
Tom Rogers, chief executive of TiVo, said it "could not be more
natural" than for Blockbuster customers to think of the service
TiVo provides.
DVRs allow viewers to pause, rewind, fast-forward or instantly
replay any live broadcast by recording it onto a hard drive.
Blockbuster's move comes less than a week after it reiterated
its determination to remain a going concern despite credit
difficulties.
The company said three of its largest creditors have agreed to
extend its revolving-credit facility through Sept. 30, 2010,
alleviating concerns about a debt payment that would have been due
this August.