Lions Gate, Best Buy sign digital deal

Lions Gate, Best Buy sign digital deal

	Published : Fri, 01 Jun 2007 23:45 By : Agencies Print this Story

NEW YORK (AP) - Could online movie downloads be in the offing for electronics retailer Best Buy Inc.?

According to comments made by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Chief Executive Jon Feltheimer in a conference call Thursday, the film and television producer has 'nearly a dozen active agreement in place for digital delivery' of its content with major companies, including Best Buy.

Feltheimer did not provide a date or details of what kind of digital downloads the retailer might offer.

Best Buy already offers digital music downloads online through its Best Buy Digital Music Store, but not movie downloads.

Brian Lucas, a spokesman for Best Buy, said the company hasn't announced anything in terms of digital movie downloads.

'We are always exploring options in the space in terms of entertainment delivery,' he said.

Some Lions Gate films are already available for purchase as digital downloads through various Internet channels, including Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s beta online video download store and Amazon.com Inc.'s Unbox video download store.

In the conference call, Lions Gate President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Beeks said digital delivery of the company's content 'is showing extremely rapid growth,' generating about 1.4 million downloads with digital partners thus far.

During the call Feltheimer also listed video rental company Blockbuster Inc. among companies that Lions Gate has digital content delivery agreements with. However, on Friday Lions Gate's head of investor relations, Peter Wilkes, said the company had been 'inadvertently included.'

'We do not have a digital delivery deal with Blockbuster,' Wilkes said.

Blockbuster spokesman Randy Hargrove couldn't say whether or not the company has spoken with Lions Gate about online content delivery, but did confirm Blockbuster intends to start offering movie downloads at some point.

'We think it makes sense for us to participate in that space, given the connection our brand has with movies and the relationship we have with our customers,' Hargrove said.

Best Buy shares finished trading Friday up 79 cents at $49.08, while Lions Gate gained 8 cents to finish at $11.93. Blockbuster shares ended the day up 11 cents at $4.53.