Home Media Magazine - January 6-12, 2008 - (Page 10) YEAR IN REVIEW » » Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation SKG, says high-def packaged media is a niche product. Circuit City Stores Inc. posts a loss of $12.2 million for the fourth quarter, compared to income of $141.4 million during the same period the previous year. By comparison, Best Buy posts profit of $763 million for its fourth quarter, up nearly 18.5% from $644 million a year earlier. Sony cuts the price of the PlayStation Portable, lowering the cost of the unit from $200 to $170 and the list price of the PSP Entertainment Pack from $250 to $200. Sony also abandons the 20GB PlayStation 3 model. MGM adds a slate of movies to Apple’s iTunes store, becoming the fourth major studio to sign with the service. Seeking to curtail a Chinese economy built in part on piracy, the United States files separate complaints with the World Trade Organization. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says the company won’t see much growth until Blockbuster raises the price of Total Access. Google says it is working on a system to filter out copyrighted content on YouTube. The HD DVD Promotions Group says sales of HD DVD players in the United States surpassed 100,000 units in the first year, making it the first stand-alone high-definition hardware to reach that milestone. Among first-quarter high-def discs sold year-to-date in 2007, 70% were Blu-ray Disc and 30% were HD DVD, according to Home Media Magazine’s market research. Comcast Corp. says tests to simultaneously release movies on DVD and VOD continue to show promise. First-quarter software shipments and hardware sales both achieve record highs, says DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group. A 21% increase in packaged-media sales, which include movie DVDs, video games and software, helps Amazon more than double first-quarter income over Q1 2006. Panelists at the Milken Institute Global Conference say there are few methods of digital content delivery (outside illegal filesharing) truly making an impact either in adoption or economics. Retail behemoth Wal-Mart quietly ramps up efforts to overcome its late arrival in highdef packaged media. 1 » » » » » » » » » » » nel) and 2 million movies have been sold on Apple Inc.’s iTunes Store since late 2005. Sony is upside-down on the PlayStation 3, taking a loss on the price of the platform and shipping 500,000 fewer than the expected 6 million units during the latest fiscal year. Theatrical distributors and suppliers looking for a leg up on home entertainment turn to a new 3-D process that, at least for now, cannot be duplicated in the home. Declaring Blockbuster Inc.’s Total Access a fiscal disaster, Netflix CFO Barry McCarthy tells investors the online movie rental pioneer’s subscriber growth will continue to slow until Blockbuster raises its prices. Blockbuster beta-tests an e-commerce function on its Web site that lets users buy new and used DVDs. Warner Home Video says it is the first studio to sell more than 100,000 copies of a high-definition disc title (The Departed) and says the milestone was achieved because of its dual-format release strategy. » » » a coupon for a free in-store movie or video game rental. NBC Universal Digital Studios is set to produce a series of exclusive webisodes revolving around classic movies for online Netflix. Blockbuster Inc. says it will offer only Bluray Disc titles among its high-definition rental selections at 1,700 company-owned stores. Longtime CFO Larry Zine says he will leave the company at the end of the year. » » JULY » » » » » 2 » A 21% drop in same-store sales of music CDs contributes to a $9.1 million quarterly loss for Trans World Entertainment. JUNE » » Lionsgate’s 11,000-title DVD catalog generates revenue of $256 million, up 21% from the previous year, and helps the studio quadruple fiscal 2007 income. The Writers Guild of America says it is looking for a bigger piece of the DVD and digital pie and will strike if it doesn’t get it. Sony Corp. offers a consumer incentive for the launch of its second-generation Blu-ray Disc player by cutting $100 from the previously suggested $599 retail price. Questioning the 15% to 20% margins studios earn from DVD rental, Warner Bros. executives tell separate investor groups they are testing releasing feature films on cable video-on-demand and DVD simultaneously. Apple’s iTunes is reportedly in advanced discussions with several studios about launching an online film rental service. Blockbuster Inc. introduces Blockbuster By Mail, a mail-only plan with subscriptions starting as low as $4.99 per month for two rentals out at a time. The offer also includes MAY » » » » 1: Warner’s Happy Feet 2: Warner’s The Departed Universal Studios Home Entertainment president Craig Kornblau is given expanded duties and is put in charge of global digital activities as well as home entertainment. Blockbuster Inc. posts a first-quarter 2007 net loss of $46.4 million, compared to a $1.9 million loss during the same period a year before. Computer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard, which built and operates Wal-Mart’s digital movie-download service, is reportedly working on a DVD-on-demand operation. Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger says that since September, ABC.com users have requested nearly 92 million ad-supported episodes of ABC fare. About 91 million episodes have been requested at Disney.com. He says 23.7 million TV episodes (ABC and Disney Chan- » » » » » Blockbuster Inc. and online rental rival Netflix Inc. reach a settlement to their 14month-old patent lawsuit. Online movie rental revenue is expected to increase 41% to $1.9 billion in 2007, according to data from Adams Media Research. Warner Home Video’s Happy Feet is the top-selling DVD released in the first six months of 2007, with sales of 8.6 million units, according to studio estimates and Home Media Magazine research. Movie Gallery says it has not met credit requirements due to poor second-quarter sales and suggests it will entertain a possible sale or merger. Blockbuster Inc. names James Keyes the company’s new chairman and CEO. He is the former president and CEO of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain. The European Commission asks Hollywood studios to voluntarily explain their decisions to support Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD. Sony Computer Entertainment America lowers the price of the 60GB PlayStation 3 by $100 to $599 and promises a 80GB unit. Netflix Inc. says its PC-based streaming service topped 5 million streams. Home Media Magazine estimates consumer spending on video purchases slipped about 3% to $6.8 billion in the first half of 2007, down from $7 billion the previous year. The Entertainment Merchants Association’s annual report on the home entertainment industry finds that mass merchants such as Wal-Mart and Target Stores continue to dominate the DVD sales market. Microsoft says it will cut the price of the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive from $200 to $180 starting Aug. 1. Target Stores says it will carry Sony’s $499 Blu-ray Disc player as its exclusive high-definition home video system during the holidays. Online DVD rental pioneer Netflix Inc. reports its first drop in subscribers in the second quarter of fiscal 2007. New Line Home Entertainment’s Stephen Einhorn is named president of DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group; Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment president Bob Chapek is named chairman. » » » » » » » » » » » See YEAR IN REVIEW, Page 32 10 Home Media Magazine January 6–12, 2008 http://ABC.com http://Disney.com
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