• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, April 12, 2011

Shelf space. Brick and mortar. Line extension. Do these somewhat archaic business terms still help consumers find their TV and movie content?

In the early '90s, when cable TV operators and services were pushing pay-per-view movies, analysts couldn't figure out why consumers weren't flocking to their TV screens to take advantage of this service. It was efficient, required no travel, or hassles with crowds at, say a Blockbuster Video store.

Analysts said entertainment consumers -- at that time -- liked the idea of real-time, real-life "shopping" -- of getting out of their homes to rent or buy movies or TV. It was the personal "hands-on" shopping they were used to.

Not only that, but with PPV services you needed to be around the TV on a, say, a Saturday night , at 6 p.m., or 8 p.m., or 10 p.m. to watch "When Harry Met Sally." Who wanted to wait around for even an hour or two anyway?

Jump ahead of couple of decades. Now, with the likes of streamed content on Hulu, ABC Video Player and Netflix, as well as cable operators' video-on-demand services, you don't need to wait. All this turned out to be the real killer app to help lower consumer traffic in Blockbuster Video stores.

And here comes Dish Network buying up the remains of a bankrupt Blockbuster. But Dish won't be getting rid of the stores, which now have some 2,000 locations -- down from a high of 9,000 or so. Dish wants to keep physical stores, to a certain degree. It feels with a storefront operation it can cross-market movie and TV videos with the selling of Dish Network satellite TV programming services and equipment.

In theory, it sounds like a decent enough deal. Consumers still do like to shop -- that is get outside of their increasingly closed in entertainment-minded homes -- and stroll into stores. And, of course, it's not like they need to leave technology behind as in the past. There's tablets like iPads, and smartphones. So they can get the best of all worlds.

Everyone wants entertainment options - they just want to do it their own way. Sure, we will buy stuff online, from Amazon, maybe Bed Bath & Beyond. But consumers still need a physical connection. They want control --- and sometimes that comes from taking a product off the shelf and getting a feel for it.