DISH Closing 500 Blockbuster Locations, Looks to Enter Wireless Biz

By Karla Robinson
February 27, 2012

Although DISH Network still believes the Blockbuster name carries weight, it will close 500 stores by the end of this quarter, a third of its remaining 1,500 locations.
The company hopes to eventually reach a stable store count “that would allow it to use the brick-and-mortar locations to better bolster its mainstay satellite business,” reports The Verge.
Over the past three quarters, the Blockbuster division broke even and DISH has created a Blockbuster @Home on-demand service. DISH saw a 13 percent increase from a year ago and gained 22,000 new customers, boosting it to the 14 million subscriber mark.
In a related story, the Wall Street Journal reports that in order to appeal to customers’ desire for bundled services, DISH Chairman Charlie Ergen says the company needs to offer mobile wireless with its video service to compete with cable operators and phone companies.
According to Ergen, “in the face of a saturated pay-TV market, DISH needs to sell packages of services with more value so it can compete better with pay-TV providers,” WSJ reports.
He believes the company has an 80 percent chance of succeeding as a wireless provider. The FCC has not yet approved DISH’s use of satellite spectrum for building its wireless network.

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