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Online media firm buys local arm of Blockbuster

Webs-tv.net (網絡數碼), Taiwan's largest online multimedia service provider, is poised to become the nation's largest movie procurer after taking over local operations of movie rental giant Blockbuster Inc, company executives said yesterday.

The annual expenditure on movie content will be as high as NT$600 million (US$18.3 million), Webs-tv.net's chairman Morse Chen (陳銘堯) told a press briefing yesterday.

"The synergy with Blockbuster will improve both firms' economies of scale and lower costs in acquiring copyrights of DVDs, VCDs and video-on-demand content in the future," Chen said.

Blockbuster Taiwan was formally acquired by Webs-tv.net on Dec. 31, reportedly for NT$500 million. Executives from both companies declined to confirm the exact amount.

Blockbuster Taiwan is the largest movie rental retailer in the country with a total of 129 stores, including 89 direct retail stores and 40 franchises.

It will open 20 more stores over this year, said Jenny Cheung (張珍莉), Blockbuster Taiwan's managing director and vice president.

The rental firm has changed its corporate name to Lots Home Entertainment Ltd (樂到家國際娛樂) after the acquisition, but will retain the Blockbuster brand, Cheung said, adding that the firm will still retain its management and staff after becoming a subsidiary of Webs-tv.net.

"We offer localized and flexible video rental services in each market and the collaboration with Webs-tv.net will help us strengthen our digital home entertainment services in Taiwan," she said.

According to Chen, Blockbuster will introduce revamped services over the next three to six months, including online movie downloads and viewing, and even courier DVDs to customers after they place orders on the Internet.

Webs-tv.net expects business opportunities to emerge as when mobile communications, Internet and cable TV networks converge in the future. The firm is seeking to combine both its cyberspace and brick-and-mortar resources to better exploit market opportunities, he said.

Webs-tv.net has 850,000 paid subscribers to its "Webs-tv" Internet TV platform, which provides archives of variety shows, talk shows, movies, dramas and adult entertainment.

After acquiring Blockbuster Taiwan, the Webs-tv.net empire will cement its presence in both the online and video rental business segments.

In September, the firm purchased the Yam Digital Technology Co (蕃薯藤數位科技) portal to offer portal and blog services.
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