Washington, D.C. (June 25, 2008) -- Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes said yesterday that studios must provide more copies of Blu-ray movies to video retailers if they want the high-def disc to succeed.

That's according to an article by Video Business.

Speaking at the Home Media Expo in Las Vegas, Keyes said Blu-ray can prolong the life of the disc rental business by at least 5-10 years.

“Blu-ray Disc represents a classic lifecycle extender,” Keyes said during a panel discussion, according to Video Business. "It represents a good continuation at least for some period of time -- five years, 10 years.”

But Keyes lamented that video retailers are having difficulty getting enough Blu-ray copies to place on store shelves to increase consumer interest in the format. Blockbuster is now carrying Blu-ray titles in roughly 5,000 stores.

"We want to put the (Blu-ray) copy right in front of (customers')  faces," Keyes said.

The Blockbuster executive added that the relatively high price of Blu-ray sell-through movies (40-50 percent higher than DVDs in some cases) will encourage consumers to rent the discs; but not if the video retailer can't stock enough titles.

“We think the rental model can help Blu-ray,” Keyes said.

Since HD DVD's exit in the high-def format war, many industry officials have complained that the studios are taking too long in releasing a sufficient number of Blu-ray copies. NetFlix, the online DVD rental service, often lists current Blu-ray releases as unavailable.

Keyes said that if the studios do not improve the rental business for Blu-ray, many consumers may eventually opt to download films over the Net at home.

“If we’re slow in doing this, all it does is stimulate demand for digital,” Keyes said, according to Video Business.

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