Comcast, Blockbuster Form Marketing Partnership for DVDs by Mail

Comcast and Blockbuster created a marketing partnership to allow Comcast subscribers to order DVDs by mail and to let Comcast market its triple-play services in Blockbuster stores, according to a blog post on the ComcastVoices website. The DVD-by-mail service will be integrated with Comcast’s movie offerings, and when consumers search for a movie title at www.comcast.com/dvd, they'll be given viewing choices including a disc by mail, on-demand, online and premium TV channels, the cable company said. Subscribers who choose the mailed DVD option can return discs by mail or to Blockbuster stores.

The post didn’t give details on the promotions including when and in which markets the company will test the online service, or whether it will go nationwide all at once. It also didn’t detail when Comcast would start recruiting new customers in Blockbuster stores. The company didn’t respond to questions by our deadline.

According to the blog post, the service includes a universal queue that integrates the DVD-by-mail service with the other platforms that Comcast offers for watching movies and TV shows. The company said it’s developing a website that will tell subscribers whether the movie they're searching for is available to view online immediately, on VOD, on TV or by DVD, and will provide subscribers with “an easy way to access that movie on any of these platforms.” The integrated website will also tell customers if particular titles are available at the local Blockbuster store, Comcast said.

Comcast hopes to gain additional customers through the agreement. The company noted that last year Blockbuster had more than 25 million renters in the 1,500 stores in Comcast service territories. Comcast said 70 percent of its customers live within 10 minutes of a Blockbuster store.

Comcast double- and triple-play customers will get a discount on the Blockbuster DVD-by-mail service. Customers with one Comcast service will get $1 off the $8.99 one-DVD-at-a-time monthly subscription, and customers with two or three Comcast services will get a discount of $3 off the two- and three-DVD-at-a-time monthly fees of $16.99 and $19.99. They'll also be able to rent Blu-rays for the same price as DVDs and can exchange their mailed DVDs for a free rental, up to five a month, at a Blockbuster store, according to the beta version of the DVDsByMail from Comcast & Blockbuster website.