Say farewell to Blockbuster, the video chain that was once one of the biggest brand names in America.

The chain's new owner, Dish Network (DISH), has said it will close 500 under-performing Blockbuster locations with expiring leases, and it may close more beyond that. There were only about 1,500 Blockbuster stores left, so the announcement is one of the final nails in the coffin for the former video powerhouse.

Not that many people are complaining. Former Blockbuster customers still grumble about the chain's strict return policies. Remember the days when you raced to the store to get that movie back on time?

The Blockbuster name is still kicking, however. Dish Network has a Blockbuster-branded service that offers streaming video and by-mail DVD and video-game rentals.

Dish bought Blockbuster out of bankruptcy in 2011 for a price many considered a steal: $234 million. With a name like that, how could Dish go wrong?

As it turns out, Blockbuster stores aren't doing much for Dish's bottom line. The stores are only producing an average of $1 million in profit per quarter for Dish, Home Media Magazine reports. That means nothing to a company whose overall 2011 profit was $1.52 billion.

There's very little reason to keep the 1,000 remaining Blockbuster stores open at this point. Expect more closings as their leases expire.

But Dish seems to be getting some good mileage from the Blockbuster@home service. Executives said the service helped it attract new subscribers and lower its customer turnover rate to 1.63 in 2011 from 1.76 in 2010, Home Media Magazine reports.

The Blockbuster service helped Dish reverse its subscriber losses in the fourth quarter. Dish added 22,000 subscribers in the quarter, a nice change from the 250,000 subscribers it lost in the second and third quarters of last year. It had 14 million subscribers at the end of last year.

"By introducing new Blockbuster-branded services, we've begun to turn the tide in subscriber losses while continuing to face increased competitive pressures," CEO Joe Clayton said in the company's earnings release Thursday.

Dish shares were up nearly 2% Thursday afternoon to $29.68.