[OldMissileer]

At one point, Blockbuster was given the opportunity to purchase Netflix, lock, stock and barrel for $50 million. They declined. You know the rest.

I should also have added this in my last reply:

If Blockbuster had purchased Netflix I have a feeling they would not have known what to do with it.

Large corporations that dominate a market usually run on their inertia and never allow the free thinking people with vision to flourish within the company. CEO's and Boards are more rewarded for stasis than innovation and since most of them have very nice Golden Parachutes they have no skin in the game.

If Blockbuster had made the purchase I bet there would have been another upstart company that would have filled the niche and blown their doors off while Netflix would have languished and died on the vine.

[HonkyTonkMan]

BlockB actually introduced a streaming service to compete with Netflix. It was doing ok until shareholders and the CEO got nervous and shuddered it. They focused on store performance rather than the emerging streaming market.

Netflix's original model was to showcase older movies (presumably) cheaper than new releases. These were the campy sci-fi that would appeal to younger guys. They also appealed to techies who would consider streaming and pushing the limits on their ISPs.

Good observation on BB not knowing what to do with Netflix. The timing and cost model was enough to make it fail at the time.