Blockbuster Courts Netflix Defectors

Blockbuster, which was acquired out of bankruptcy by Dish Networks in April, said it would give a free 30-day trial to any Netflix customer that wanted to try its services.

It claims its responding to the cries of furious Netflix subscribers, following the 60 percent increase on Tuesday.

Thousands of subscribers complained on Netflix's official blog with many threatening to cancel subscriptions, while over 40k negative comments have been posted to the company's Facebook page.

Who's genius idea is this crap? said one comment on the Netflix blog, which promised to cancel service. Your streaming selection sucks and the Red Box is looking better and better these days, referring to the in-grocery store DVD rental service.

Users also created other Facebook pages, expressing their discontent, and some even took to Twitter.

But as customers primarily fume over the prices, it is unclear what Blockbuster will offer that is different.

The BlockBuster by Mail promotion costs $9.99 to have one DVD out at a time, after the 30-day trial period, but the comparable offer is just $7.99 on Netflix.

Likewise, Blockbuster charges $14.99 to have two disks out at once, versus Netflix' $11.99.

Where the company could set itself apart, however, is the fact that it does have physical locations where customers can view inventory and also drop off rentals.

It also receives many new releases 28 days before Netflix it said.