MSN Movies Site Enhances Online Movie Experience through Partnerships with Blockbuster, CinemaNow, and MovieTickets.com

Strategic Insights -

MSN has entered into agreements with industry leaders Blockbuster Inc., CinemaNow Inc., and MovieTickets.com Inc. to offer a wide range of movie rental, download, and ticket purchasing options to its U.S. consumers. The MSN Movies site now provides a one-stop destination for movie lovers to access and view their favorite movies online. This collaboration complements MSN's existing offerings of movie showtimes, tickets, trailers, reviews, and cast and crew information for over 70,000 titles.

Key Takeaways:

  • MSN has partnered with Blockbuster Inc., CinemaNow Inc., and MovieTickets.com Inc. to enhance its online movie experience.
  • The agreement allows U.S. consumers to rent DVDs, download movies, and buy tickets online at the MSN Movies site with a single click.
  • MSN's new relationships complement its existing offerings of movie showtimes, tickets, trailers, reviews, and its database of cast and crew information for over 70,000 titles.
  • Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of the MSN Information Services & Merchant Platform division, stated, "MSN is rolling out the red carpet to movie fans across the nation with easy access to renting, downloading or buying movie tickets online -- making it the only Web destination for finding both old favorites and new releases through a simple click of the mouse."
  • Blockbuster Inc.'s Shane Evangelist stated, "We see online rental as a sizeable opportunity and feel that teaming up with MSN to reach its large audience of unique monthly users is one key way BLOCKBUSTER Online can quickly establish itself in this business."
  • CinemaNow's Bruce David Eisen stated, "With the growth of broadband access having reached critical mass, we anticipate the popularity of movie downloads to also grow exponentially."
  • MovieTickets.com's Mitch Rubenstein stated, "We are pleased to expand our relationship with MSN, offering its consumers more inventory from some of the nation's most prominent theaters."

Statistics:

  • MSN attracts more than 350 million unique users worldwide per month (Source: MSN)
  • The MSN Movies site offers access to movie showtimes, tickets, trailers, reviews, and cast and crew information for over 70,000 titles (Source: MSN)
  • Blockbuster Inc. has established itself as a leading player in the online rental market (Source: MSN)
  • CinemaNow anticipates a growth in popularity of movie downloads, with the growth of broadband access reaching critical mass (Source: CinemaNow)
  • MovieTickets.com delivers a premium movie ticketing experience for its affiliate network and MSN customers (Source: MovieTickets.com)

Sources:

  • MSN: http://www.msn.com/
  • Blockbuster Inc.: http://www.blockbuster.com/
  • CinemaNow Inc.: http://www.cinemanow.com/
  • MovieTickets.com Inc.: http://www.movietickets.com/
  • Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/