• Gigaom, Wednesday, April 6, 2011 2 PM

How can Dish leverage its just-announced purchase of the bankrupt Blockbuster retail movie chain? The deal "will complement our existing video offerings while presenting cross-marketing and service extension opportunities," according to EVP of Sales, Marketing and Programming Tom Cullen in a statement.

So yes, that could mean using Blockbuster inventory -- including streaming rights to video titles -- to expand Dish offerings, perhaps "into a Dish-branded online VOD offering," writes Gigaom's Ryan Lawler.

 Also, "With so many locations throughout the U.S., Dish could use free or discounted Blockbuster rentals as a value-add to its pay TV subscribers."

Here's another angle: "Perhaps more important for a company that has been pushing its ability to serve subscribers in ways beyond the satellite dish, including the emphasis on delivering programming across devices, Blockbuster On Demand offers instant movies on a wide range of devices, including connected TVs, Blu-Ray and mobile, for rental and sale," according to Paid Content's Staci D. Kramer.

Read the whole story at Gigaom »