Comcast recently began a two-part marketing agreement with Blockbuster that will bring our customers discounted access to Blockbuster’s 95,000 movie titles and TV shows though a "by-mail" monthly rental service, and will give us the opportunity to market our triple play products in Blockbuster stores.

One of Comcast’s goals is to provide our customers with a full spectrum of movie and TV choices and this agreement is another way for our customers to access the movies and TV shows on yet another platform. This agreement complements the thousands of movies and TV choices we already offer via On Demand and online, through XfinityTV online, premium channels like HBO, Cinemax, Starz and Showtime, Comcast’s online store, and traditional pay-per-view.

Our retail agreement with Blockbuster provides a great opportunity for Comcast to market our products to Blockbuster’s customers. Last year alone Blockbuster had more than 25M unique renters. There are more than 1,500 Blockbuster stores in Comcast’s footprint and 70 percent of our customers live within 10 minutes of a blockbuster store.

Here are some highlights of the new marketing partnership:

  • This DVD-by-mail service will be integrated into existing movie offers through one website and will enable customers to search for movies and shows they can watch on our video on demand or online platforms, and now on DVD. This service will include a universal queue that integrates the DVD-by-mail service with all of the other popular platforms that Comcast offers to watch movies and TV shows. For example, if you’re looking for a classic film like The Princess Bride (my personal favorite), we’re developing a website that will tell you whether that movie is available to view online right now on Comcast’s site, on VOD, on TV, or on DVD from this new by-mail service … and it will provide you with an easy way to access that movie on any of these platforms.
  • With this by-mail DVD and Blu-Ray offering, customers will not only have yet another way to rent movies, but they’ll receive the offering at a discount too. For example, Comcast double or triple play customers – those customers who sign up for one or two products from Comcast – will get a discount on the Blockbuster service ($1 off the single DVD service and $3 off the two and three DVD services).
  • Customers will be able to pick from either DVDs or Blu-Rays at no additional charge and they’ll have the option of returning and exchanging the DVDs or Blu-Rays through the mail or at their local participating blockbuster store. Our integrated website will also tell you if your favorite titles are available at your local store.

The new site www.comcast.com/dvd just launched in Beta now.

As we move forward, we will continue to look for ways to bring our customers the best entertainment across multiple platforms — giving our customers even more ways to watch movies and TV shows in whatever format they want.