Blockbuster Wins Some, Loses a Lot

On his blog last week, Carl Ichan noted that it was his idea to install Jim Keyes as chairman and CEO of Blockbuster and that Keyes "has saved approximately $100 million in operating costs over the past year, a laudable result." Keyes has also managed to increase the Dallas-based company's revenues by 3.3 percent in the second quarter of '08 compared with the same period in '07 -- seems like they're selling a lot of new movies but also renting fewer games.

Only, some bad news for the company this a.m., as it reports a net loss of $41.9 million for the second quarter of 2008, or $10.5 million more than it lost during the same period in '07. Keyes, in the media release, points to Movielink as the future. Funny thing, though: No mention of those downloading kiosks or those video-rental ATMs. --Robert Wilonsky