Are Sony and Blockbuster looking to form an alliance to bring Blockbuster's streaming download video offer to the PS3? We'll know by 'early next year' says Blockbuster.
Sony and Blockbuster have some history together already. You may recall that Blockbuster was one of the first retailers in North America to decide that they were going to be supporting Blu-ray on a much bigger scale than HD DVD. That announcement really got the ball rolling in Blu-ray's favor at the time.
Fast forward a year and we have Netflix signing streaming deals with every manufacturer they can find including an exclusive game console deal with Microsoft. Netflix has signed deals with TiVo Inc, Samsung , LG Electronics.
Now comes word from Blockbuster that, in the wake of their launch of Blockbuster OnDemand, they are actively seeking a partnership with Blu-ray player manufacturers. With Samsung and LG already in Netflix's corner, could this lead Blockbuster to seek out Sony as a BD player/game console entry into the market?
Unlike Netflix's "Watch Instantly" feature, the Blockbuster on-demand service will be open to customers who do not subscribe to its DVD-by-mail service.
Blockbuster Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Keyes said,
"The service is essentially a rebranding and expansion of Blockbuster's Movielink.com Web site, which offers about 10,000 on-demand movies for download to personal computers. About 2,000 of those titles, such as recent DVD releases "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", "Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2" and "Get Smart", can be downloaded to TVs via Blockbuster OnDemand. Blockbuster also is pursuing deals to package the new service with Blu-ray players and is considering alliances with video game console makers, but is not ready to disclose the details."
Unless the Wii comes out with a HDD in the new year that can only mean they are thinking of the PS3.
