BlockBuster fails to find suitor, faces certain death by year's end

55 parties contemplated buying the dying BlockBuster. 14 of them made offers. None were good enough for the court-appointed reciever. And now this Canadian book is poised to close forever.

It's not news that BlockBuster has been struggling financially for years, but many thought the flurry of last-minute offers and negotiations would materialze into a heroic revival of the deeply wounded franchise. Alas, it wasn't to be.

Telcos were hungry for BlockBuster, which drew interest from Bell, Rogers, and most of all Wind.

BlockBuster was doing a lot better in Canada than in the US, but the American economy and the rise of mail-order master Netflix dragged both country's chances for survival into the quicksand. The company's assets will now be liquidated and it should be good and dead by the end of the year. Brick-and-mortar businesses continue to shutter as digital counterparts out-compete them in virtually every manner.

The telcos, which seemed most likely to purchase, ended up finding the retail spaces too large for their liking. Wind attempted to propose a mixed-use retail project with multiple shops linked to one common era, but it was dubbed too complicayed. So the wireless startup shrugged and walked away, with CEO Anthony Lacavera describing BlockBuster as "in a freefall."

The reason Wind was so interested was that the company has more than 100 kisoks located with BlockBuster stores in Canada.

(Oh, and Google has already launched YouTube Moves in Canada.)