Remember what I was saying a couple months ago about Blockbuster getting just truly desperate? Yeah…that hasn’t changed. No, not at all.
They’ve allied themselves with LiveNation to start selling their concert tickets in Blockbuster outlets. For the next three years, Blockbuster will have exclusive blocks of seating to various concerts and kick back a portion to LiveNation. And the funny part is? It’s not just Blockbuster’s desperation driving this deal–it’s Hannah Montana.
The newest Disney cash cow had horrible availability for tickets to a concert just a few months back–scalping was wildly out of control with single tickets going for four figures. LiveNation got to figuring that they needed a better distribution strategy, and as it turns out, Blockbuster has stores just about damn near everywhere, and in some places two or more.
I can attest to that–back when I was in college, just a few short years ago, there were as many as THREE Blockbuster Video stores open in the same town. More recently that number has dropped to two, one on the south side and one on the north side, but the point remains. Blockbuster has UNBELIEVABLE market penetration. They’re everywhere. They’re like GAS STATIONS in some towns.
And Blockbuster, until recently, was getting its metaphorical ass handed to it by Netflix and the various other rental chains like Hollywood Video. So Blockbuster was definitely in the market for new services to add on–rumor was not so long ago Starbucks was considering kiosks in Blockbusters–and LiveNation seems to be a good add-on.
I’m only slightly dismayed by this–what, a video store by itself isn’t good enough?–but at the same time I can appreciate the concept of one-stop shopping being as I have a wonderful grocery store ten minutes from my house that also sells things like tires and clothes and such. No, not Wal-Mart, though there’s one of those too. Midwest residents will recognize the name Meijer when I say it, and if you’re not going to one but can I wholeheartedly recommend that you do.
Though a down economy should actually be helping Blockbuster–people stay home more and need movies and games to occupy their downtime–I don’t suppose it can ever hurt to get a little more edge going on. Just as long as they don’t stint on the movies to make room.
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