US video rental company Blockbuster announced it has acquired video download site Movielink. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but The Wall Street Journal reported the deal was worth less than $20 million.
Movielink offers customers the ability to download entertainment content for rental (VOD) and for purchase (EST). The service was created in 2002 as a joint venture of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Studios. Movielink draws its content offerings from the libraries of it founding studios as well as fro Walt Disney Pictures, Miramax, Artisan and others on a non-exclusive basis.
“Blockbuster is committed to keeping pace with the changing needs of customers by offering them an expanding array of convenient ways to access entertainment content,” said Jim Keyes, Blockbuster Chairman and CEO, in a press release. “Our acquisition of Movielink, with its associated digital content, is the next logical step in our planned transformation of Blockbuster. Now, in addition to the entertainment content we provide through our stores and by mail, we have taken an important step toward being able to make movie downloading conveniently available to computers, portable devices and ultimately to the television at home.”
