Were buyers shying away from the Consumer Electronics Show this year or did they just keep a really low profile?

Given the state of retailers — what with consumer electronics sellers like Circuit City filing for bankruptcy protection — it wouldn’t be surprising if they kept away. After all, who’s in the mood for bulk buys of fancy new gadgets when consumers are so tightfisted with their dollars?

There was no International Retail Power Panel, which has featured the CEOs of Best Buy and Circuit City in the past. And the one retail panel advertised on the CES website earlier — International Success Stories from Retail — was also cancelled today, without explanation.

Guess it’s hard to celebrate success in a recession.

Eyeing the disintegration of its brick and mortar rental business, Blockbuster offered to buy electronics retailer Circuit City for $6 a share, the rental giant revealed on Monday.

But will one plus one equal three? Putting together two struggling companies have rarely been a good idea.

The bid shouldn’t be a surprise, however. For months, Blockbuster CEO James Keyes has aimed to invest more heavily in its stores by adding more merchandise including entertainment electronics while pulling back on competing with online rental service Netflix.

The new Blockbuster sees itself as a one-stop shop for all media entertainment needs, from content to devices. We know of one other company that has pulled this off quite profitably. But the comparison with Apple, which controls every aspect of the supply chain, from device design to consumer pricing at its digital store, doesn’t quite apply here.

(Reuters)

Keep an eye on:

• CBS Interactive to open Menlo Park outpost, amid fears digital revenue won’t offset lost traditional media revenue for years to come. (paidContent) (NYT )
• AOL lands biggest ad deal since creation of Platform A with Verizon. (Reuters)
• Some mysterious guy is snapping up all the copies of “My Wall Street Journal” parody from a Los Angeles newsstand. (NYT )
• Microsoft will probably stick with its own options for Yahoo. (Reuters)
• Antitrust bar is higher in any deal with Yahoo that involves Google. (Reuters )

(Photo: Reuters / Blockbuster CEO James Keyes at the 2007 Reuters Media Summit)