Blockbuster Movies Come to Verizon

23 Jun, 2010 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Verizon June 23 said it is offering its wireless subscribers, including Droid X mobile phone owners, first-time access to Blockbuster On Demand movies.

Dubbed “Blockbuster On Demand presented by V Cast Video,” the transactional video-on-demand (VOD) service offers all major studio new-release movies day-and-date with the DVD and Blu-ray Disc retail release.

Titles cost $3.99 to rent and $9.99 to purchase. Rentals can be viewed on one handset within 30 days of rental over a 24-hour period. Movie purchases can be watched on numerous media devices featuring Blockbuster On Demand, including web-connected televisions and connected Blu-ray players.

Dallas-based Blockbuster is trying to repurpose its DVD rental brand across distribution channels beyond the traditional retail store, including Blockbuster Express kiosks, VOD and Blockbuster Mobile.

Basking Ridge, N.J.-based Verizon said the Droid’s large high-resolution screen makes the phone ideal for movie watching.

“Movies and other video content look tremendous on [the phone],” said John Stratton, chief marketing officer at Verizon.

Blockbuster last year cut its digital teeth inking a deal with Motorola to begin offering mobile access to by-mail DVD/Blu-ray Disc rental queues, store and kiosk locations. In March, Blockbuster rolled out VOD service to Windows Mobile and Google Android phones. Motorola manufactures several Android-powered phones, including the Droid, Backflip, Devour, Cliq and Cliq XT.

In April Blockbuster began offering VOD movie rentals to T-Mobile’s HTC HD2 mobile phone. T-Mobile, with more than 33 million customers in the United States, is the exclusive wireless carrier for Taiwan-based HTC Corp. That deal represented the first mobile movie download application for Blockbuster, allowing users to buy or rent new-release movies playable on their phones without first accessing a personal computer or being a Blockbuster subscriber.

Owners of the HTC HD2 phone who activated the Blockbuster On Demand App received two free catalog rentals from Paramount Home Entertainment: Forrest Gump and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

The activation also qualified users to 50% off a separate digital rental, a free in-store rental (with a paid rental), a free one-month Blockbuster By Mail subscription and free one-day rental from Blockbuster Express kiosks.

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