Skip to main content

Report: Dish network to announce Blockbuster branded Netflix streaming rival

stream come trueIf there was a perfect time to hold a press event Dish Network might have found it. Dish Network is hosting a press event on Friday that it has titled “A Stream Come True”, where is it rumored to be announcing a streaming service to rival Netflix. It is believed that Dish will be offering an unlimited streaming option at an unknown price under the Blockbuster brand name.

We originally heard about the rumor earlier this month, and it was expected to be released in October. It is possible that in light of all the negative press that Netflix has created lately that Dish is trying to kick Netflix while they are down. If the new streaming service is going to cash in the million or so customers expecting to leave Netflix the service better have good content at a low price.

At this time it is still unclear what content will be available on the Blockbuster service, or at what price the service will be offered. Seeing as Blockbuster is owned by Dish network one may think that it might only be available to Dish subscribers but that doesn’t seem practical as a true Netflix rival. Maybe Dish subscribers will receive a discount on the service, or it will be included in monthly satellite costs to lure more customers to Dish network.

We recently wrote up a report about the best five alternatives to Netflix and Qwikster, and we might already have to update that list. If Blockbuster is able to offer streaming and disc rentals in the same service they might be able to really capitalize on the space that Netflix just abandoned.

Mike Dunn
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Mike graduated from University of Arizona with a degree in poetry, and made his big break by writing love sonnets to the…
The Beats Pill is back, baby!
A pair of Beats Pill speakers.

In what's been one of the worst-kept secrets of the year -- mostly because subtly putting a product into the hands of some of the biggest stars on the planet is no way to keep a secret -- the Beats Pill has returned. Just a couple of years after Apple and Beats unceremoniously killed off the stylish Bluetooth speaker, a new one has arrived.

Available for preorder today in either black, red, or gold, the $150 speaker (and speakerphone, for that matter) rounds out a 2024 release cycle for beats that includes the Solo Buds and Solo 4 headphones, and comes nearly a year after the Beats Studio Pro.

Read more
Ifi’s latest DAC is the first to add lossless Bluetooth audio
Ifi Audio Zen Blue 3 DAC (front).

Ifi Audio's new Zen Blue 3 wireless digital-to-analog converter (DAC) will officially be available to buy for $299 on July 9. When it is, it will be the first device of its kind to support a wide variety of Bluetooth codecs, including Qualcomm's aptX Lossless, the only codec that claims to deliver bit-perfect CD quality audio over a Bluetooth connection.

Admittedly, there are very few devices on the market that can receive aptX Lossless (and fewer that can transmit it), so it's a good thing that the Zen Blue 3 also works with the more widely supported aptX Adaptive, LDAC, and LDHC/HWA codecs (all of which are hi-res audio-capable), plus the three most common codecs: AAC, SBC, and aptX.

Read more
The new Beats Pill might replace Sonos on my back porch
The 2024 Beats Pill and an aging Sonos Play:1.

If I were to build an outdoor stereo in 2024, I'd do it with a pair of portable Beats Pills instead of Sonos speakers. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

In 2017, after more than a decade in our home, my wife and I added a pool. With it came a covered deck, making what basically was a new outdoor room. Not uncommon at all in Florida, but new to us.

Read more