In March of 2001, Blockbuster and Enron abruptly terminated an exclusive 20-year agreement to deliver video-on-demand to consumers' homes, just eight months after the deal's announcement. By the end of that year Enron would enter what, at that time, was the biggest corporate bankruptcy in American history. Meanwhile, Blockbuster would spend the next decade trying, and failing, to compete with Netflix before filing for bankruptcy in 2010. Today both companies are cautionary tales, relics, punchlines in business case studies. But the thing is, the tech worked.
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RIP Corp is written and hosted by Ingrid Burrington, with research and fact-checking from Matt Giles. Produced by Meghal Janardan and Mike Rugnetta. Original music and sound design from Andrew Atkin and Michael Simonelli. Design and illustration by Beatriz Lozano and Megan Mulholland. Executive produced by Jason Oberholtzer.