Dish Said to Unveil Blockbuster Streaming Prices Next Week

Dish Network Corp. (DISH) will announce pricing next week for its Blockbuster streaming-movie service, which will compete with Netflix Inc. (NFLX), a person with knowledge of the plan said.

The second-largest U.S. satellite-TV company will hold a press conference on Sept. 23 to announce subscription costs and other details for the service, according to the person, who declined to be identified because the plan isn’t public.

Dish is unveiling the service next month to take advantage of Netflix’s recent price increases, said the person. Englewood, Colorado-based Dish, which acquired most of Blockbuster Inc.’s assets in April for $320 million, aims to boost its subscribers by offering the online service with its pay-TV packages, said the person. Non-Dish customers who only want Blockbuster’s offering will eventually be able to do so, the person said.

Aaron Johnson, a spokesman for Dish, declined to comment.

Netflix, based in Los Gatos, California, began charging separate fees for mail-order and streaming videos, effectively raising the price by 60 percent to $15.98 for customers who want both options.

Netflix fell the most in more than three years yesterday after cutting its U.S. subscriber forecast, following the price increase. The shares declined $14.06, or 8.3 percent, to $155.19 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading, after dropping 19 percent yesterday.

Dish rose 47 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $26.29. The shares have gained 34 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Sherman in New York at asherman6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net