Warner Bros., the same movie studio that has recently announced "deals" with Netflix and Redbox to delay the DVD release of its titles for 28 days, has announced a new agreement with movie rental company Blockbuster. Unlike to its previous deals, however, the new agreement makes Warner's titles available immediately in Blockbuster's dying brick-and-mortar stores, by mail, and on-demand.

"Warner Bros. and Blockbuster have enjoyed a cooperative and successful relationship for more than 25 years," Warner Home Video president Ron Sanders said in a statement. "The updated agreement will continue to provide Blockbuster customers with access to Warner Bros. titles the same day they are released."

At the risk of abusing an already overused phrase: Wow. Just wow. In its announcement, Warner reaffirmed its commitment to assuring that Blockbuster remains the "only multichannel provider that has every hot new movie on the day of its release." Indeed, with the agreements it struck with more innovative and competitive movie rental services like Netflix and Redbox, Blockbuster really is the only mainstream way for people to get movies on release day without buying them.

Blockbuster, of course, has been bleeding money for some time now. The company has been entertaining the idea of bankruptcy for close to a year now and has closed nearly a thousand stores in recent years. In fact, my peers and I have long wondered how the Blockbuster near my place has remained open, but the telltale "store closing" signs finally popped up in the windows this week. So what in the world is Warner Bros. thinking?

It's hard to see how Blockbuster could be paying more per rental than companies that are actually in the black, but the good relationship Blockbuster has fostered with the movie studios in the past has undoubtedly helped. The stores are also known for selling DVDs, so perhaps Warner enjoys this extra sales boost, no matter how tiny.

From this vantage point, this looks like a case of old media propping up old retail. The deal may buy Blockbuster a few extra months of life, but it's not going to win Warner Bros. any fans.