Dish gives new customers 3 mos of free Blockbuster (AP)

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – Satellite TV operator Dish Network is giving new customers three free months of Blockbuster By Mail, a mail-order DVD and Blu-ray disc service it acquired when it bought Blockbuster out of bankruptcy last month.

Dish Network Corp. is making the offer as it competes on at least two other fronts in home entertainment. It is battling DirecTV and cable operators on the one hand and mail-order movie and Internet streaming service Netflix Inc. on the other.

Dish bought Blockbuster out of bankruptcy last month for $228 million.

Englewood, Colo.-based Dish says Blockbuster by Mail gives customers access to more than 100,000 movies, TV shows and games. New titles are available 28 days before they come out on Netflix or are offered by kiosk operator Redbox.

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Dish Network wins Blockbuster with $228 million bid

said Tom Cullen, executive vice president of sales, marketing and programming for Dish Network.

MORE: Dish Network's press releaseBlockbuster is already a shadow of its former self. When the chain filed for bankruptcy protection, it was down to 3,000 stores, less than a third of the peak of 9,100 in 2004. There are about 2,400 still open, and plans are to close about 700 more by mid-April.

Blockbuster used to dominate the U.S. movie rental business. But it lost money for years as that business declined because customers shifted to Netflix, video on demand and DVD rental kiosks.

Dish, based in Englewood, Colo., expects to close the deal during the second quarter. The transaction needs bankruptcy court approval.

Aside from Dish and Icahn, others involved in the bankruptcy court auction were a group of debt holders called Cobalt Video Holdco. Another bidder, SK Telecom, dropped out after two rounds of bidding. An expected joint bid by two liquidation firms, Gordon Brothers Group and Hilco Merchant Resources, did not materialize.

There were several rounds of bidding at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New York on Tuesday before the courthouse closed for the day. The auction continued at law firm Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, where the proceeding was closed to the public.

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Blockbuster Deliverance

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Directed by John Boorman, this thriller drama is based on a novel by the American author James Dickey and the plot revolves around an adventure planned by four men. Based in Atlanta, the four men, Lewis played by Burt Reynolds, Ed by Jon Voight, Bobby by Ned Beatty, and Drew by Ronny Cox, go conoeing down a fictional river. It is obvious that the characters are in an unfamiliar territory and have very little or no experience of being out in the nature. The locals of the area are crude men who are threatened by the presence of these men in their domain. The men initially do not face any problems. They conoe during the day and camp on the riverside at night.

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