Call the cable TV provider in your area, because you’re going to want broadband Internet for the upcoming “Streaming Wars”.

When Dish Network satellite TV bought the failing Blockbuster video, many wondered how Dish would turn it into a money maker.   Well, the first attempt is being made as we speak.  After Netflix announced significant price hikes to come, Dish Network saw an opportunity to grab new customers.

Netflix took its single disc/streaming video product and broke it into two products.  What was once $9.99 a month for both is now $7.99 a month per product.  Obviously, Netflix users are miffed.  Dish Network offers a one disc rental package for $9.99, but the Blockbuster package does not include streaming video.  At least not yet.
However, according to a BizJournals.com article, Dish Network satellite TV / Blockbuster video feels customers would switch from Netflix for early access to new releases and video game rentals.  The Blockbuster package is $2 more a month than the single disc package from Netflix, so only time will tell.  What’s more important, saving $2 or having access to newer new releases and video games?

Many were wondering what Dish Network dish TV would do with Blockbuster video after the purchase.  Well, one idea quickly came to surface and has already been put into place by Dish Network.

The assumption that Dish Network would somehow loop customers into a bi-company experience was a no-brainer.  We just didn’t know how they would do it.  The Boston Herald recently posted a story about the first steps into satellite TV and home movie rentals.  According to the Herald, “Dish Network said Thursday that new customers who sign up for its satellite television service through Aug. 10 will receive three months of free Blockbuster by Mail DVDs. The offer includes access to 100,000 movies, TV shows and games that can be exchanged by mail or at Blockbuster stores. The offer includes Blu-ray movies and new releases that Blockbuster gets 28 days earlier than Netflix and Redbox.”

Having a four week head start on the movie rental competition is pretty solid no matter how you look at it.  Now we’ll just wait to see how well the promotion goes.

We’ve all seen the fall of Blockbuster video in recent months.  There have been banners reading, “Still renting!” posted on sides of stores.  Then, only weeks later, a new banner goes up reading, “Store closing”.  It’s sad.  But there may be new life for the originator of the home movie rental.  Dish Network won a bankruptcy auction for the failing entertainer. The big question on everyone’s mind seems to be, “Why?”

Why would the Dish Network satellite TV provider buy a home movie rental chain as it falls into obscurity?  There certainly seems to be no lack of speculation.  Yahoo! News even claims that Dish Network will keep the 1700 remaining Blockbuster Video stores up and running.  But how do home rental stores equate to sales for satellite TV providers?  Right now it’s anyone’s guess.  What is clear is that Dish Network’s purchase of Blockbuster Video could be a game changing play for a section of the streaming video market currently run by Netflix.

Here’s one you may not have seen coming . . . Comcast cable TV, is working with Blockbuster, the video rental company, to offer discounts on Blockbuster DVD by mail programs to their shared customers.  It appears to be a high profile partnership to directly compete with Netflix.  However, unlike the strictly mail based Netflix platform, the Blockbuster plans also allow you to exchange DVDs  at your local Blockbuster store.

So how does it work?

According to the Wall Street Journal, “Under the Comcast partnership, customers who already use at least two of the company’s cable, Internet or telephone services get a $1 to $3 discount on monthly plans that provide Blockbuster by-mail packages.”  It sounds easy enough.  If you visit the new site, www.dvdsbymail.com, you can login with your Comcast.net ID and get started.