Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2008 - (Page 3) www.homemediamagazine.com MENU FROM THE EDITOR BY STEPHANIE PRANGE, EDITOR IN CHIEF www.homemediamagazine.com Blu-ray Won; What Now? PUBLISHER & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Thomas K. Arnold EDITOR IN CHIEF Stephanie Prange EDITORIAL Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Angelique Flores Senior Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erik Gruenwedel Senior Reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Tribbey Assistant Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Latchem Associate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Billy Gil, Kyra Kudick Contributors. . . . . . . . . John Gaudiosi, Anne Sherber, Fred Topel, Ralph Tribbey, Holly J. Wagner Intern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ruby Cardenas O ART Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Melbert Sebayan Graphic Designer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles Park RESEARCH Market Research Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Burner ADVERTISING 800/338-6700, FAX 714/338-6712 Advertising Sales Representative . . . . . . . . . . . . John Boezinger 714/338-6704 Advertising Sales Representative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Julie Savant 714/368-1020 Advertising Sales Representative . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kurt Wohlman 714/338-6749 Business Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joni Wu Group Administrative Coordinator. . . . . . . . . . Jennifer Guerena For reprints, call 800-290-5460, ext. 100 or HomeMediaMagazine@reprintbuyer. com For direct-mail lists, call Ilene Schwartz, Kroll Direct, 216/371-1667 FAX 216/371-1669 ilene@krolldirect.com ne of the greatest revelations about DVD versus its ies). And consumers won’t be compelled to go online, where predecessor, VHS, was that it offered a much better they may turn to illegal downloading. value for the price. It was smaller and easier to store, Another possibility, as I’ve mentioned in a review of Close its content was easier to navigate and — to top it off — it was Encounters of the Third Kind, is multiple versions of a movie for the most part cheaper on street date. VHS wasn’t universally on one disc. That Blu-ray release included the multiple insellthrough priced as was DVD. carnations of the Steven Spielberg classic, explaining each Since the size issue no longer applies, Blu-ray Disc must and every change — an invaluable resource for film buffs somehow compete with DVD on value. The and fans of the movie. The strategy also disc enthusiasts at Home Theater Forum (see DIGITAL COPIES OF MOVIES ON somewhat mitigates one of the major conCommentary, page 12) think better picture DISCS WILL MAKE BLU-RAY A sumer complaints about DVD, that studios and sound just won’t be enough. Player prices MUCH GREATER VALUE THAN release theatrical and then director’s cut will have to come down, as will the prices on DVD. IT MARRIES THE BEST OF versions. Now, the studio can go back and the software to compel consumers to make BOTH PACKAGED MEDIA AND put both on one Blu-ray, making the new the transition. DIGITAL DELIVERY. buy a space saver — and a greater value for Also, Blu-ray Disc extras will need to blow the consumer. away those on DVD. Now that many DVD producers can turn Ultimately, it’s value that will make Blu-ray a winner in the their attention away from authoring for both HD DVD and mainstream market, not hype or the end of the format war Blu-ray Disc, perhaps they can focus on making the next great (although those both help). How will the industry entice the leap forward in disc features. consumer to value Blu-ray as a new format? That’s the quesIn my opinion, digital copies of movies on discs will make tion DVD producers and studios need to be asking themselves Blu-ray a much greater value than DVD. It marries the best of right now. both packaged media and digital delivery. Studios can control how the digital copy is used (limiting it to, say, one or two cop- Stephanie Prange’s e-mail address is sprange@questex.com MARKETING Marketing Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kristina Kronenberg 714/338-6743 Marketing Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kaitlyn DeWaard IN THIS ISSUE MARCH 2-8, 2008 / VOL. 30 / NO. 9 News …………………………… CALENDAR DIGITAL MEDIA Online Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Renee Rosado PRODUCTION Production Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bonnie Ling Production Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Justin-Nicholas Toyama 714/338-6765 Assistant Production Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brady Gallardo 4 6 >> HIGH- DEF I CDSA FORUM The 38th Annual Content Delivery and Storage Forum will gather content holders, replicators, packagers, equipment suppliers and service providers to discuss high-definition discs. March 6-8 La Quinta Resort & Club, La Quinta, Calif. info: www.contentdeliveryandstorage.org/conf/forum2008/ DreamWorks reports its best-ever year, says it’s stuck in an HD DVD contract with Toshiba; Anchor Bay spends for Mad Money; Wattles eyes Circuit City. OFFICES 714/338-6700, 800/371-6897, FAX 714/338-6710 homemediamagazine@questex.com 201 East Sandpointe Ave., Suite 500 Santa Ana, CA 92707-8716 News …………………………… Chris Tribbey, Senior Reporter 818-788-8616, FAX 818-530-2486 16130 Ventura Blvd. #570 Encino, CA 91436 Oscar noms and winners street shortly after the awards ceremony; analysts say Oscar viewership data bodes well for DVD sales of nominated films. News ………………………… CREDIT Credit/Collections Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ron Wright Sr. Sonic Solutions projects a Blu-ray boost; Sony plans to debut two new Blu-ray players this year; Panasonic, Fox promote at NASCAR event. I LATINO DVD 5 Home Media Magazine, in cooperation with DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group, The Hollywood Reporter and the Entertainment Merchants Association, presents the fifth annual Latino DVD Conference. The event will feature a day full of informational sessions and panel discussions on the growing Latino home entertainment market. This year’s theme is Tuning in to Latino DVD, with an emphasis on music. In addition Latino DVD 5 will include the Fourth Annual Latino DVD Awards. April 8 InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Los Angeles info: www.homemediaconferences.com CIRCULATION For subscriptions, please go online to www.homemediamagazine.com For current single copy, back issues or CD-ROM, call 866/344-1315 or 847/763-9594 for outside the U.S. Audience Development Manager. . . . . . . . . . . Sarah Joy Obaña >> EL ECTRONIC D EL IV ERY No Country for Old Men Saw IV BUSINESS QUESTEX MEDIA GROUP INC. President & CEO: Kerry C. Gumas; Executive Vice President & CFO: Tom Caridi; Executive Vice President: Robert S. Ingraham; Executive Vice President: Tony D’Avino; Executive Vice President, Corporate Development: Claudia Flowers; Vice President & General Manager: Don Rosenberg; Vice President, Digital Media: Seth Nichols; Vice President, Human Resources: Diane Evans © 2008 Questex Media Group Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including by photocopy, recording or information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by Questex Media Group, Inc. for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923 phone: 978-750-8400 fax 978-750-4470; call for copying beyond that permitted by Sections 107 or 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law. For those not registered with the CCC, send permission request in writing to questexpermissions@reprintbuyer.com or call 800-494-9051 ext. 100. Commentary …………………… 12 According to the Home Theater Forum, Blu-ray backers have their work cut out for them to succeed DVD as the dominant home video format. TV DVD ………………………… 14 Fox whets the appetites of “24” fans with 24: Season One — Special Edition; studios look at TV DVD release alternatives after the writers strike. News ………………………… ABC expands its VOD offerings, minus the fastforward option; MGM films go online with Xbox Live; TVN teams with Popcorn Entertainment. Reviews ………………………… 16 Research ……………………… 26 Does Steve Carell exude authentic charm in Dan Universal plays kingpin on the charts with American in Real Life? Will viewers want to traverse Into the Gangster, shooting to the top of sales and rentals. Wild? Is Southland Tales a worthy mind-boggler? I PEVE DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT 2008 Established in 1992, the annual PEVE conference caters to the international home entertainment business. Industry players from more than 20 countries attend the conference, which this year will tackle such issues as digital home entertainment. April 17-18 Maison Internationale, Paris info: www.peve.screendigest.com Printed in the U.S.A. Pipeline ………………………… 24 Top 20 DVD Sellers ……………………… 26 Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts ……… 28 Jean-Claude Van Damme discusses his next actioner The Shepherd: Border Patrol, from Sony Pictures; The Just Announced ……………… Weinstein Co.’s Miriam Collection slates The Fall of the Sony Pictures hails First Sunday; Warner dials up Roman Empire; Genius takes off with “Speed Racer.” One Missed Call; New Line adopts The Orphanage. March 2–8, 2008 Home Media Magazine http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.contentdeliveryandstorage.org/conf/forum2008/ http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediaconferences.com http://www.peve.screendigest.com
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