In two signs of the rapidly shifting home video business, mass merchant retailer Best Buy has acquired file downloading site Napster, while NCR has announced plans to put 11,000 DVD kiosks into the marketplace in the next two years.  Best Buy’s acquisition of Napster, which has about half the market for digital music subscription services, will help the company move its media businesses online.  While music is the primary reason Best Buy acquired the site, videos are in the works as an expansion area under Napster’s new ownership. 

And in another move away from pre-packaged media, Video Business reports that NCR will build 11,000 DVD kiosks in the next two years.  Each will be capable of offering 4,000 DVD titles, largely taking business from DVD rentals, which are expected to drop nearly 40% by 2010, according to the report.  Among the retailers that are rapidly expanding the deployment of DVD kiosks are Blockbuster, Wal-Mart, and Walgreens.  NCR has also acquired a stake in kiosk-maker E-Play, which is deploying self-service DVD-trading machines in GameStop, Dollar Tree, and other retailers.