NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) April 22, 2005--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on Blockbuster Inc. (BB/Stable/--) are not currently affected by the recent announcement of a proxy contest for Blockbuster's board at the company's upcoming May 11 shareholder meeting. However, a positive outcome for the dissident shareholder group, led by financier Carl Icahn, may have implications for the credit in the case that the contest leads to unexpected changes in senior management. In addition, the shareholder group has called for at least a special dividend of $300 million. This amount would signal a significant change in financial policy and, because the company is already highly leveraged and operating in a contracting industry, could
