Dish Network Looks To Pick Up Leases On 500 Blockbuster Stores

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It wasn’t so long ago we were following the results of the big auction frenzy that took Dish Network into a three-way brawl with South Korean telecom great SK Telecom and a coalition led by Carl Icahn, but a new development has emerged in the saga of Blockbuster Video–Dish Network has agreed to pick up the leases on 500 Blockbuster stores.

This is actually an interesting move, especially considering that Blockbuster had well over 500 stores nationwide even just ahead of its final for-sale notice. It’s been projected that Dish is looking to take over Blockbuster’s mail service and streaming capability (which is actually one of the uses we suggested for it out here in our weekly top list), which was augmented by a substantial quantity of deals already arranged with studios who were desperate to keep the brick and mortar video store concept afloat.

So why is Dish Network keeping some Blockbuster stores open? Well, there are several possibilities. One, some video stores actually do well in smaller towns in which streaming (and the relevant infrastructure required) isn’t so ubiquitous. Don’t believe me? Just check out Family Video sometime and ask them if they’re hurting. Want to find one? Just go check out a couple of former Movie Gallery / Hollywood Video locations and see for yourself. So it’s not surprising that Dish Network would want to keep some of the low-hanging fruit on hand. Two, they may want a physical connection between their many customers and themselves, so they’re keeping a few lights on.  Other possibilities follow from there.

Just what it is Dish Network is out to accomplish is as yet unclear, and that’s got more than a few people concerned. After all, Dish has made a name for itself in television–its expansion into movies is a little disconcerting. But hopefully they’ll have some more news for us in short order regarding why they picked up the Blockbuster locations. And perhaps more hopefully, the news will make sense.