Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2008 - (Page 4) NEWS BRIEFS I BORDERS SLASHES DVD BOXED SET PRICES Borders Group Inc. e-mailed a 40% price reduction of all DVD boxed sets last week. The two-day promotion, which mirrored a similar offer by the chain prior to the winter holidays, showcased boxed sets of Planet Earth, Ken Burns’ “The War,” “Lost,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Indiana Jones,” “Heroes,” “Saturday Night Live” and “Pride and Prejudice,” among others. – Erik Gruenwedel www.homemediamagazine.com DreamWorks Animation Has Best Year Ever Katzenberg says studio is waiting for Toshiba to let it out of HD DVD deal By Chris Tribbey SUPPLIER DreamWorks Animation SKG reported its best year ever. However, CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg delivered a note of caution on the DVD front. “As we anticipated, the home video Shrek the Third market was extremely competitive this past quarter, as an unprecedented number of summer blockbusters were all released into a very crowded market,” he said. “It is clear that the clutter, as well as competition at retail from other sources such as video games, has had an impact on the overall home video market.” Shrek the Third shipped 15.6 million DVD units worldwide, DreamWorks president and CFO Lew Coleman said, and the movie was the fourth-best performing animated movie of all time, taking in more than $800 million at the worldwide box office. But if DreamWorks’ next slate of titles is to do as well, they need to stand out, Katzenberg said. “I believe good content can arise above the clutter,” he Mad Money I MACROVISION Q4 EARNINGS UP Santa Clara, Calif.-based Macrovision Corp. announced fourth-quarter (which ended Dec. 31) earnings of $27.7 million, up from $22.6 million during the same period in 2006. Revenue was $78.7 million in the fourth quarter, up from $74.1 million during the same period in 2006. Macrovision also said it had sold its casual gaming division, Trymedia, to RealMedia for $4 million. – Chris Tribbey said, noting that consumers have more options than ever with video-on-demand and Internet downloading. “It is our job as filmmakers to continue to create compelling content that will be in high demand as these new platforms gain popularity.” Meanwhile, Katzenberg acknowledged to Reuters news service last week that despite the end of the format war with Toshiba Corp.’s capitulation, his company was still locked into an exclusive HD DVD deal with Toshiba, throwing into doubt the studio’s future high-def plans. “We have a partnership with Toshiba and have an obligation to see this through,” he told the news service. “As you know, we have been well-compensated for our support. It really is in their court at this point to really declare what the next step will be. We’re poised either way to jump into the marketplace when the conditions are right to do so.” Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks signed exclusive See DREAMWORKS, Page 30 Anchor Bay Goes ‘Mad’ On Campaign By Chris Tribbey MARKETING Anchor Bay Entertainment is spending money on Money. For the May 13 DVD release of Mad Money, the independent is launching its largest marketing campaign ever, to the tune of “several million” dollars, said company president Bill Clark. “We have a studio-level marketing and release plan, encompassing all types of media,” Clark said. “This is a new chapter for Anchor Bay. We are now in full theatrical mode.” With more than $20 million at the box office, Mad Money stars Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes, Ted Danson and Queen Latifah. It’s Anchor Bay’s first theatrical release from its sister company Overture Films. The Mad Money DVD campaign will include two online promotions: “Mad Pack,” which will award prize money, and “Girls’ Night In,” which will award a girls’ night prize package. Anchor Bay also will bow the DVD with 100% recyclable materials, a first for nonfitness titles from the company. I PORCHLIGHT NABS ‘ZAKLAND’ PorchLight Home Entertainment has nailed down the domestic rights to “ZakLand,” a half-animated, half-live action children’s show hosted by entertainer Zak Morgan. The first DVD release is slated for May 20. – Chris Tribbey Is Wattles Eyeing Circuit City? By Erik Gruenwedel RETAIL An investment company controlled by Hollywood Video founder Mark Wattles submitted a list of five board nominees for struggling retailer Circuit City Stores Inc. Taking a page out of maverick investor Carl Icahn’s playbook, Wattles Capital Management LLC in January bought 11 million shares of Circuit I RADIOSHACK Q4 UP, TV AND CE DEVICE SALES DOWN Electronics retailer RadioShack Corp. announced net income of more than $101 million for the 2007 fourth quarter (which ended Dec. 31), up from $84.5 million during the same period in 2006. However, sales were down more than 8% for the year compared to 2006. Sales of TVs and other home entertainment electronics, as well as wireless devices, lagged. – Chris Tribbey City common shares, which represent 6.5% of the retailer’s outstanding stock, according to a regulatory filing. Wattles told The Wall Street Journal he is in “complete disagreement” with Circuit City CEO Philippe Schoonover over turning around the retailer. He said a new board would yield new management not at odds with employees and shareholders. Schoonover earlier this month told Reuters the retailer was not for sale and primed for a “multiquarter” turnaround. Richmond, Va.-based Circuit City, with stock that has plummeted 76% since last year, said in a filing, it would consider Wattles’ nominations. It operates 689 stores in the United States and 786 locations in Canada. PEOPLE I WARNER PROMOTES BRUIJNEN Jaap Bruijnen, current deputy managing director of Benelux, will serve as managing director of Warner Home Video Benelux, effective May 1, 2008. Ruud Lamers, the current managing director, will leave the company at the end of April. “Jaap exemplifies the qualities and talents of a world-class managing director, and I fully support his appointment to this integral position,” said Ron Sanders, president of Warner Home Video. Bruijnen and Lamers worked closely to make the studio the first to deliver download-to-own movies day-anddate with the sale of the DVD. Bruijnen also led the integration of Warner Home Video’s finance and corporate finance groups in Benelux, the economic union made up of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. – Ruby Cardenas JANUARY NEW-TO-DVD RELEASE COMPARISONS BY PRODUCT CATEGORY: 2007/2008 There are some early signs that 2008 might hold its own against 2007. DVD releases for January were up 2.4% from January 2007, excluding music and special-interest titles. All the major categories are up, including new theatrical features (59, up from 57 in January 2007), theatrical catalog (76, up from 68 in the same month of 2007) and TV DVD complete-season sets (51, up from 33 in January 2007). Still, year-over-year numbers are down 23.7% , mostly due to large drops in specialinterest and music titles — 35.1% and 48.5%, respectively. Anime also experienced a large drop in title output, mostly due to Geneon’s exit from the market last year. — Ralph Tribbey DVD Title Release Category TV Movies Documentary TV Series Programming: Multidisc Sets Children’s Programming, Non-Feature Theatrical Catalog (pre-1997) Direct-to-video Feature Films New Theatrical (1997-current) All Other Categories Foreign-language Feature Films Anime Adult-Themed, Non-Feature TV Series Programming (single disc) Special Interest Music, Opera and Stage Performances January New-to-DVD Totals Without Music and Special Interest 2007 16 13 33 30 68 77 57 15 83 44 36 18 441 134 1,065 490 2008 28 21 51 40 77 86 59 14 66 32 24 12 286 69 865 510 +/12 8 18 10 9 9 2 (1) (17) (12) (12) (6) (155) (65) (200) 20 %+/75.0% 61.5% 54.5% 33.3% 13.2% 11.7% 3.5% -6.7% -20.5% -27.3% -33.3% -33.3% -35.1% -48.5% -18.8% 4.1% I TARGET Q4 DOWN, FULL-YEAR EARNINGS UP Electronics sold well for Target Corp. during 2007, but it wasn’t enough to offset poor sales in toys, men’s clothes and jewelry for the big-box retailer, executives said. Company executives cautioned that better TVs will not necessarily mean better sales. “Essentially this is a conversion from analog to digital technology. … The gross margin differential in both the analog and flat-panel LCD [and] plasma technology is about the same when you fully allocate all the expenses and the competitive position of the marketplace,” said Target president Gregg Steinhafel. For the year, Target reported net earnings of nearly $2.9 billion, up slightly from 2006 ($2.8 billion). – Chris Tribbey Revised: 2/22/08; 2/26/08 I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR DVD Titles in Release Through Week Ended Feb. 22, 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total Net DVD Titles Announced and/or In Release Through June 30, 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83,187+271 83,783+232 394 Scheduled 38 I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR BLU-RAY As of Week Ended Feb. 22 . . . . .Released I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR HD DVD Scheduled As of Week Ended Feb. 22 . . . . .Released Home Media Magazine March 2–8, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com
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