NetFlix Beats Blockbuster Again (update with video)

Well, NetFlix (NFLX) is once again ahead of Blockbuster (BBI).

A review from Time:
“This week, a consumer-electronics company called Roku, in partnership with Netflix, launched a set-top box that brings us tantalizingly close to my dream. The Netflix player ($99 at netflix.com) is a palm-sized, black device that connects your broadband network (wired or wirelessly) to your TV. For as little as $8.99 a month, you can access Netflix’s library of 10,000 movies and TV shows on demand. Watch what you want, instantly, for as long as you want. You can even start a movie on your home TV, and finish watching it on your PC laptop at a hotel days later. Apple, which uses its own digital-rights management to copy protect films and TV shows, doesn’t support the Netflix on-demand service.

Setting up the Roku was about as painless an experience as I’ve had, and took less than 5 minutes. I cabled it to my TV, powered up both, then followed the on-screen prompts. The Roku device found my wireless connection immediately and asked for my password. I watched video by logging into my Netflix account (you’ll need one, which also entitles you to rent-by-mail DVDs) and adding movies and TV seasons to my “instant” queue; they show up on the Roku box almost instantaneously. I moldered on the couch for a few days, watching The Office reruns, some old Kubrick and Peckinpah movies and a Jimi Hendrix documentary. It was great.”

The news device caused Lehman Brothers (LEH) to upgrades the company:

On their recent earnings call, Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes said “Our acquisition of Movielink provided both digital content and a distribution tool. Movielink integration is going well and proceeding as planned. We have a new online service in testing, in beta testing now and we are planning to make it available to all customers in June. The extensive library of over 9,000 titles gives us one of the largest digital VOD and day date electronic sell-through libraries in the marketplace.”

He continued “The remaining missing pieces of our digital offering are relating to subscription content. We are actively exploring opportunities to acquire content and to develop partners for distribution to the PC, the portable device, and ultimately to the home. These are just a few of the many examples of work underway in the digital space. I can assure you that Blockbuster has not at all backed away from an online strategy. We called a time-out from our by-mail initiatives, both to make that business profitable and to develop a plan for true digital delivery. I look forward to providing more updates to you in the weeks and the months ahead.”

Jim, see above…

Is this box going to be the “new way” next month? No. Eventually it will be and it gives Netflix a start and an immediate advantage. The bigger issue for Blockbuster shareholders is that once again they have been outflanked by Netflix. Wouldn’t it be nice if for just once Blockbuster was on the cutting edge of a new way to deliver content to the home? Second place is not all that bad unless you consider there are only two of you that really do it (three if you include Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes in which case Blockbuster is now third) it means that you are last.

Again.

Disclosure (“none” means no position):None