Blockbuster Entertainment Corp

They should just call it Bluebox and really have at it. NCR Corp., which is expanding aggressively in the DVD kiosk business via a partnership with Blockbuster Inc., has acquired competitor DVDPlay in a bid to catch up with market leader Redbox Automated Retail. NCR, which manufacturers self-service retail devices such as ATMs and grocery-store checkout devices, will put the Blockbuster brand name on its $1-a-night-DVD kiosks via a partnership with the struggling home video chain.

Beleaguered DVD chain Blockbuster Inc. got no respite from its problems last quarter as its revenue plunged 21% and its net loss widened. The company lost $114.1 million in the third quarter, much of it the result of one-time costs from its recent debt refinancing and the sale of an Irish subsidiary. Excluding such items, the loss was $35.6 million. In the same quarter last year, the company lost $17.8 million. Revenue was $910.5 million, down from $1.16 billion. Blockbuster stock sank as much as 11 cents, or 13%, to 72 cents a share on the news in after-hours trading Thursday.

Blockbuster Merger Clears Review: Viacom Inc. announced that its proposed merger with Blockbuster Entertainment Corp. has cleared a review by federal antitrust regulators, mandated by the Hart-Scott-Rodino law. The waiting period expired Sunday, the company said. With Blockbuster, Viacom will be acquiring the video retailer's interests in other entertainment companies, which include stakes in Virgin Interactive Entertainment, Discovery Zone Inc. and Republic Pictures Corp.

Viacom Inc. and Blockbuster Entertainment have entered into advanced merger discussions in hopes of topping QVC Network Inc.'s bid for Paramount Communications Inc., knowledgeable sources said Thursday. The talks mark a dramatic escalation in the five-month takeover battle for Paramount, which reaches a crucial stage today when rival tender offers are set to expire.

With the 1992 acquisition of Music Plus and Sound Warehouse, 8-year-old Blockbuster Entertainment became the sixth largest music retailer in the nation. Already, the Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. company boasts that it has 30 million video members and rents 10 million tapes weekly. Under the direction of H. Wayne Huizenga, it reported 1992 revenue of $1.2 billion, up 31% from 1991. Despite concerns over the effect of advanced technology in the video industry, Merrill Lynch projects 1993 revenue of $1.

Organizers called it the biggest music event ever, but more realistically, Saturday's Blockbuster RockFest '97 will probably go down to some as simply the nation's largest concert giveaway. That doesn't mean it didn't establish a few firsts. For starters, the local area has never had to deal with so many people trying to get to its new Texas Motor Speedway, where RockFest was held.

Blockbuster Entertainment Corp. announced a $40-million deal to buy Erol's Inc., which owns and operates 208 videocassette rental and sales stores in five states and the District of Columbia. Blockbuster, the nation's largest video chain, will acquire Erol's operations in exchange for cash, a note, Blockbuster common stock and debt assumption, the Ft. Lauderdale-based company said. H.

Blockbuster is looking lackluster. Facing increasing pressure from Redbox, Netflix Inc. and its own debt problems, the video rental giant is doubling the number of stores it is likely to close by the end of next year, the company revealed in a regulatory filing Tuesday. Struggling Blockbuster was previously aiming to shut 410 to 450 of its most unprofitable stores this year and next. A series of "accelerated closures" brings that target to 810 to 960. Blockbuster also said it might convert an additional 250 to 300 locations to outlets that focus on used DVDs.

In its bid to keep pace with rivals, Blockbuster Inc. has reached a deal with Samsung Electronics America to offer its OnDemand movie rental service through Internet-connected TVs, Blu-ray players and home theater systems. The rental giant said the service, available this fall, would give Blockbuster customers the option of renting newly released movies without driving to the neighborhood video store or waiting for home delivery of a DVD through the mail.

As if crushing debt, the recession, Netflix and Redbox weren't enough, Blockbuster Inc. has a new foe: the booming box office. That's according to Jim Keyes, chief executive of the struggling but still massive DVD rental chain, who on Thursday blamed much of his company's weak performance last quarter on the growing number of people watching movies in theaters and not their living rooms.

Blockbuster Inc. shares rose 17% after the founder of the Hollywood Video chain took a 5.7% equity stake in the world's biggest video-rental chain and expressed confidence that the Dallas company could meet its obligations. Wattles Capital Management acquired 4.84 million shares of Blockbuster, while HKW Trust, which Mark Wattles controls, bought 2 million, according to a regulatory filing Monday. Blockbuster shares, which declined 68% last year, jumped 11 cents to 76 cents.

Blockbuster Inc. will start renting movies and television shows through a new gadget that may give consumers another reason to bypass the struggling video chain's 7,500 stores. The system unveiled Tuesday relies on a small box that connects to television sets and stores video after it's downloaded over high-speed Internet connections. The player, made by San Jose-based 2Wire Inc., is based on the same concept as storage devices made by Apple Inc. and Vudu Inc.

Blockbuster Inc. suffered another loss in the second quarter, but the struggling movie rental chain showed signs of progress by wringing more revenue from its stores while lowering its costs. Heartened by its rising sales, Blockbuster modestly raised its outlook and predicted it would produce a profit of $21 million to $36 million for the entire year. "To paraphrase Mark Twain, the demise of Blockbuster has been greatly exaggerated," Chief Executive James Keyes told analysts. But investors weren't impressed.

Blockbuster Inc. posted a first-quarter profit Thursday after it cut advertising costs in half and raised prices. Net income was $45.4 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with a loss of $49 million, or 27 cents, a year earlier, the Dallas-based company said. Revenue decreased 5.4% to $1.39 billion because of the sale or closing of 412 company-operated sites, the retailer said. Blockbuster had 7,719 stores as of April 6. Blockbuster expects to lower costs further if it succeeds in its plans to acquire Circuit City Stores Inc. The video rental chain aims to save money by closing stores, cutting jobs and buying in bulk, Chief Executive James Keyes said in April.

Video rental chain Blockbuster Inc. said Wednesday that it was buying the digital movie download service Movielink, giving it the online foothold it had long sought to compete with rival Netflix Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Blockbuster said it would continue to operate Movielink as a stand-alone service and eventually would make elements of the service available through Blockbuster.com.