Dish Network Purchase Of Blockbuster Video Approved By Bankruptcy Court

We mentioned earlier this week that satellite TV provider Dish Network had put in a bid to purchase Blockbuster and its assets. The plan still needed to win the approval of the bankruptcy court handling Blockbuster's assets. Reuters reports that the court has approved the $320 million bid by Dish Network for the purchase.

This is an interesting purchase for Dish Network and one that has to be a bit nerve-racking for shareholders. Blockbuster had about $1 billion worth of creditors that are owned money. The upside is that Dish can use the remaining 1,700 Blockbuster Video retail stores to market its satellite service. Blockbuster also runs a decent web-based video streaming operation that Dish will be able to get its hands on.

That would open up a new world of streaming video possibilities to Dish subscribers. It seems that one of the key things that helped Dish to win its bid for Blockbuster is that dish plans to continue to operate the stores that are still open, other bidders planned to close all locations. There were at least 100 complaints filed against the sale to Dish, many of them from landlords wanting to know if Dish would pay the rent they were owed that Blockbuster apparently didn't cover.

[via Reuters]