NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Aug. 3, 2005--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that it placed its ratings for Dallas, Texas-based Blockbuster Inc., including the 'BB-' corporate credit rating, on CreditWatch with negative implications. "This action follows the company's announcement that its second-quarter movie rental business was hurt by weak DVD releases and that there is concern about the remainder of the year," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Diane Shand. Industry fundamentals for the video rental market are weak, and Blockbuster's profitability is heavily dependent on that market. The company generated 65% of its total sales from its movie rental business in 2004, and its domestic rental same-store sales have been weak since 2001. Retail sales of videos
