Blockbuster U.K. is rising from the ashes after plunging into administration—a form of bankruptcy in Britain—in January when accountancy firm Deloitte assumed day-to-day operations while looking for a buyer.

"We are working closely with suppliers and employees to ensure the business has the best possible platform to secure a sale, preserve jobs and generate as much value as possible for all creditors," said Lee Manning, joint administrator and partner in Deloitte’s restructuring services at the time. 

The pioneering DVD and video rental company that entered the U.K. market in 1989 is struggling to survive in a burgeoning and highly competitive world where digital real estate trumps physical and streaming is de rigueur. Since January, a number of the brand's 528 stores have been bought up by Morrison's supermarket, and now, Gordon Brothers, a private equity group, has stepped in to buy 264 stores for an unspecified amount, subsequently saving nearly 2,000 jobs.Continue reading...

When one thinks of Target, it's certainly fitting to imagine the retailer as an outlet for the teenage girls that form the bulk of The Hunger Games' most dedicated fan base. What may not be so fitting to the Target brand and clientele are the terms like "14-carat gold replicas" and "$999 each." Yet, this is what Target is dangling as one of the marquee features of its exclusive Hunger Games DVD release event.Continue reading...

Today, millions of DVDs in bright red Netflix envelopes flood US mailboxes, but that may change in the near future. Netflix, the nation's largest DVD rental-by-mail service, is now approaching movie studios directly to gain access to digital versions of films.

The move comes amidst a rapidly changing world of digital distribution that is affecting not just movies, but television, music, and traditional print publications. Netflix, along with traditional DVD rental stores such as Blockbuster, faces the reality that consumers are increasingly going online for entertainment.

Netflix isn't waiting to become obsolete; instead, the company is aggressively reinventing its brand. Netflix already offers online movies for instant viewing on computers, as well as the ability to download movies to a TV set-top box. More than 40 percent of the company's 11 million subscribers take advantage of instant viewing.Continue reading...

The DVD death march continues.

Best Buy today announced plans to offer digital entertainment online, available to consumers to rent or purchase in partnership with Sonic Solutions.

The ambitious retailer will offer on-demand movies and entertainment, powered by Sonic's Roxio CinemaNow service, through various consumer electronic devices -- citing set-top boxes, portable media players, Blu-ray Disc players, mobile phones and PCs -- produced from a variety of manufacturers.

Best Buy is joining a cadre offering content on-demand online, hitching their wagon to the success of Netflix, Blockbuster, Hulu, Amazon and Apple.Continue reading...