Blockbuster CEO 'Confused by Fascination' With Netflix • Hacker News Board

Re: Blockbuster CEO 'Confused by Fascination' With Netflix

#61

Post by dhimes » Wed, Aug 20, 2008, 3:14 AM UTC

omouse wrote: post #41

dhimes wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to be careful with the licensing on that one...but a good idea in concept

As far as I know, they already play clips of movies or even full movies (though they are older movies usually).

I seem to recall they had stuff on in the background while you browsed, but I don't know if they had to pay for that right or if the movie distributors paid them, or neither. But I suspect if a commercial establishment started having "theater" showings, they might be violating the license agreements of the videos.

I know that schools sometimes do it (or they used to, before the RIAA went rabid), however, as do (did) day-care facilities.

Re: Blockbuster CEO 'Confused by Fascination' With Netflix

#62

Post by jyothi » Wed, Aug 20, 2008, 4:49 AM UTC

biohacker42 wrote: post #36

jrockway wrote: post #2

"I've been frankly confused by this fascination that everybody has with Netflix," Keyes told Rafat Ali, in an interview with PaidContent.org. Translation: "I am not qualified for my job. I know nothing about my industry, or what my customers want. I get a nice paycheck though." I'm frankly confused as to why a CEO would think that being confused about his competition would bring him more business.

It is refreshing that he bluntly admitted his confusion. Most CEOs know enough to BS so that it is not obvious that they are clueless. Give this guy some kind of pity award.

yeah, he is the smarter of the dumb CEOs. As he knows he at least realizes that.

Re: Blockbuster CEO 'Confused by Fascination' With Netflix

#63

Post by jyothi » Wed, Aug 20, 2008, 4:53 AM UTC

cmos wrote: post #14

wow. He should be fired. Immediately. Just saying those comments should be career suicide. His PR person is probably freaking out. Why would the board of directors just wait around for a clueless leader to drive them into the ground? They lost the battle. Time for an aggressive plan B to stay in business. Attempts to sell consumer electronics in blockbuster stores are pathetic and have failed over and over again. Fir…

Agree. Even if you are not a visionary at least being updated with the market is absolutely necessary.

Imagine how Keyes would respond on Amazon's release of Kindle, lest sold books online or having a vast catalog.

Re: Blockbuster CEO 'Confused by Fascination' With Netflix

#64

Post by BrandonM » Wed, Aug 20, 2008, 5:33 AM UTC

cmos wrote: post #14

wow. He should be fired. Immediately. Just saying those comments should be career suicide. His PR person is probably freaking out. Why would the board of directors just wait around for a clueless leader to drive them into the ground? They lost the battle. Time for an aggressive plan B to stay in business. Attempts to sell consumer electronics in blockbuster stores are pathetic and have failed over and over again. Fir…

So... will you go to the trouble of pitching this idea to a VC and setting up shop in some major cities (Columbus being one of them)? This would be a cool way to meet new people.

It kind of sucks that there is nothing in between "watching movies with friends at home" and "watching movies with friends at the theatre". The former is a lot a of fun, and the movie is even ignored at points as you are having more fun with each other, but there is no chance of meeting new people. The latter is 100% focus on the movie with a few comments here and there, with a slim chance of meeting new people.

Your idea could be really cool... almost an informal theatre that allows talking and horsing around, a place for both friends and bored individuals, where you can meet cool new people.

The more I think about this idea, the more I like it.

Re: Blockbuster CEO 'Confused by Fascination' With Netflix

#65

Post by rms » Wed, Aug 20, 2008, 5:40 AM UTC

cmos wrote: post #14

wow. He should be fired. Immediately. Just saying those comments should be career suicide. His PR person is probably freaking out. Why would the board of directors just wait around for a clueless leader to drive them into the ground? They lost the battle. Time for an aggressive plan B to stay in business. Attempts to sell consumer electronics in blockbuster stores are pathetic and have failed over and over again. Fir…

>My plan B for them would be to change store format entirely. Build a nice home theatre that can sit 20 people and have showings of new releases. The catch is they use equipment that is in the $1000-$5000 price range, and it's a great experience that you can 'take home'. Delivery is free. Installation is extra.

Great idea, but not economical -- public screening rates for movies are ~$500. That was the rate clubs at my college had to pay, a commercial rate may be even higher.

Re: Blockbuster CEO 'Confused by Fascination' With Netflix

#66

Post by a-priori » Wed, Aug 20, 2008, 11:27 AM UTC

rms wrote: post #65

cmos wrote: post #14

wow. He should be fired. Immediately. Just saying those comments should be career suicide. His PR person is probably freaking out. Why would the board of directors just wait around for a clueless leader to drive them into the ground? They lost the battle. Time for an aggressive plan B to stay in business. Attempts to sell consumer electronics in blockbuster stores are pathetic and have failed over and over again. Fir…

>My plan B for them would be to change store format entirely. Build a nice home theatre that can sit 20 people and have showings of new releases. The catch is they use equipment that is in the $1000-$5000 price range, and it's a great experience that you can 'take home'. Delivery is free. Installation is extra. Great idea, but not economical -- public screening rates for movies are ~$500. That was the rate clubs at m…

When I was growing up, we went to a small-chain video store. They always had some movie (recent, but not new releases) playing on a real-projection screen in the store -- no seats or anything, but people would cycle through, watch for a few minutes, and move on.

As far as I know, they didn't play public screening fees, but different jurisdictions have different laws.

Re: Blockbuster CEO 'Confused by Fascination' With Netflix

#67

Post by irinotecan » Wed, Aug 20, 2008, 2:39 PM UTC

rms wrote: post #65

cmos wrote: post #14

wow. He should be fired. Immediately. Just saying those comments should be career suicide. His PR person is probably freaking out. Why would the board of directors just wait around for a clueless leader to drive them into the ground? They lost the battle. Time for an aggressive plan B to stay in business. Attempts to sell consumer electronics in blockbuster stores are pathetic and have failed over and over again. Fir…

>My plan B for them would be to change store format entirely. Build a nice home theatre that can sit 20 people and have showings of new releases. The catch is they use equipment that is in the $1000-$5000 price range, and it's a great experience that you can 'take home'. Delivery is free. Installation is extra. Great idea, but not economical -- public screening rates for movies are ~$500. That was the rate clubs at m…

Blockbuster has enough clout to force movie companies to "water down" their product so they don't have to sell "unrated / NC-17" editions of movies, why can't they negotiate a much better public screening rate? Also, if it is so un-economical, why do the electronics stores that sell home theaters do exactly this?

Re: Blockbuster CEO 'Confused by Fascination' With Netflix

#68

Post by ricree » Wed, Aug 20, 2008, 6:15 PM UTC

cmos wrote: post #14

wow. He should be fired. Immediately. Just saying those comments should be career suicide. His PR person is probably freaking out. Why would the board of directors just wait around for a clueless leader to drive them into the ground? They lost the battle. Time for an aggressive plan B to stay in business. Attempts to sell consumer electronics in blockbuster stores are pathetic and have failed over and over again. Fir…

>My plan B for them would be to change store format entirely. Build a nice home theatre that can sit 20 people and have showings of new releases. The catch is they use equipment that is in the $1000-$5000 price range, and it's a great experience that you can 'take home'. Delivery is free. Installation is extra.

Toss out Blockbuster entirely, and I think that this could be a viable business in and of itself so long as you could negotiate decent licensing terms. The only change I would make is to focus on allowing customers to choose the movie. Right now, people are pretty much limited to seeing movies in theaters when they first release and watching them on home systems.

The declining price of home theater systems makes the second option a bit better, but there is still a huge gap between the two experiences. I think that a company could do very well for itself by offering a quality moviegoing experience for small groups(let's say mini theaters seating anywhere from 10 to 50). The ability to watch old favorites on the big screen (and let's face it, who wouldn't want to watch Jurassic park in theaters again), and the opportunity to watch directors' cuts that never entered theaters in the first place could be a huge draw.

Re: Blockbuster CEO 'Confused by Fascination' With Netflix

#69

Post by helveticaman » Wed, Aug 20, 2008, 7:00 PM UTC

tlrobinson wrote: post #47

biohacker42 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is refreshing that he bluntly admitted his confusion. Most CEOs know enough to BS so that it is not obvious that they are clueless. Give this guy some kind of pity award.

But is he really "confused" or is this a sarcastic attempt at badmouthing Netflix?

Yeah, that's what the quote sounded like to me, too.