Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2008 - (Page 12)

HIGH-DEF Report: Satellite Fights to Keep Up With Cable By Erik Gruenwedel www.homemediamagazine.com NPD: Blu-ray Interest Rising — Slowly By Erik Gruenwedel RESEARCH Consumer interest in Blu-ray Disc rose slightly last month following the end of the format war with HD DVD, according to a study by The NPD Group. Interest among standard-DVD consumers likely to buy HD packaged media increased to 10.8% for the week that ended Feb. 20, compared to 9.4% for the week that ended Feb. 13 and 8.9% for the week that ended Feb. 6. HD DVD interest, not surprisingly, dropped to 8.8%, from 10.6% the week before and 10.9% the prior week. Comparative percentages for Blu-ray late last year ranged from 5% to 6.8% through Christmas. Russ Crupnick, analyst with NPD, cautioned the percentage increase indicated likely — not actual — buyers. “The number is fairly conservative,” Crupnick said. BRIEFS I TOSHIBA REVISES FORECAST Toshiba March 19 revised its earnings forecast for ﬁscal year 2007 (ending March 31), telling investors it will incur $665 million in losses for the year due to discontinuing the HD DVD business. In total, Toshiba stands to lose nearly $1 billion due to HD DVD’s demise. Overall, Toshiba lowered its proﬁt expectations for the ﬁscal year to $1.26 billion. – Chris Tribbey Satellite TV continues to market set-top boxes, HD content and premium channels in an effort to bridge the gap with cable and overcome a troubled economy, says a new In-Stat report. The satellite industry over the past several years has languished relative to cable, which has blossomed with more than 60% U.S. market share, compared to nearly 29% for satellite, according to In-Stat. Worldwide satellite penetration is nearly 19% of the TV market, with cable at roughly 31%. Satellite set-top box unit shipments globally in 2008 are expected to eclipse 80 million — hitting 83.5 million units annually in 2010, according to In-Stat. High-definition content and digital video recorders will spearhead growth in mature markets, while new subscribers drive emerging markets in Asia/Pacific, India and China, according the report. “[Mature] markets will have growth in the number of premium boxes, and to some extent, these units will bolster the market,” said Michael Inouye, In-Stat analyst. He said the ongoing housing slump and mortgage meltdown has eroded consumer willingness to pay for expensive satellite and cable channels and services. Inouye said global HD and DVR penetration in satellite market approached 40% in 2007. That percentage is expected to increase, he said. RESEARCH He said the slight surge was primarily due to the end of the format war and special Blu-ray movie promotions. “You can take this as an overall trend that more people are aware and inclined toward the format,” Crupnick said. But he said HD DVD continues to generate sales, with select consumer electronics retailers selling the Toshiba HD-A30 player for $129. Crupnick said widespread adoption of Blu-ray continues to be stymied by high prices for hardware and software and general satisfaction with standard DVD. The analyst said additional challenges to wider Bluray adoption include sluggish consumer affinity for 1080p resolution and upconverting DVD players. “The 1080p picture is going to look pretty good,” Crupnick said. “But 720p is increasingly affordable, and while Blu-ray works great on 720p, so will other things, such as DVD.” I IMAGE SIGNS SONY DADC FOR BLU-RAY RELEASES For next month’s Blu-ray release slate, Image Entertainment Inc. has entered into a replication deal with Sony DADC. Image, which has a disc-replication deal with Arvato (formerly Sonopress), sought the Sony replication company due to its ability to author and compress content for Blu-ray, according to COO David Borshell. – Erik Gruenwedel Best Buy Offers Gift Cards to HD DVD Buyers By Erik Gruenwedel est Buy Co. Inc. said it will give a $50 store gift card for each HD DVD player or add-on purchased at one of its stores. The $10 million program is intended to assuage consumers who may have felt jilted when Toshiba Corp. abandoned HD DVD. “We understand and shared our customers’ frustrations as they were being asked to choose one format or the other,” said Brian Dunn, president and COO of Best Buy. The Minneapolis-based retailer said it will contact HD I HDTV SERVICE PROJECTED TO HIT 100M USERS BY 2012 A Pike & Fischer forecast has more than 100 million American households paying for HDTV service by 2012, up from about 47 million this year. That number represents a 17% jump over 2007. And while the economy’s recent woes may slow adoption of high-def services, just the opposite could happen, says Pike & Fischer. “People may decide they’ll save more by investing in home entertainment,” said Scott Sleek of Pike & Fischer. – Chris Tribbey B DVD customers by mail from its database. Consumers eligible for the gift cards do not have to return players, but they must have purchased them prior to Feb. 23. In addition, beginning March 21 consumers who want to jettison their HD DVD players can go to www. bestbuytradein.com and receive trade estimates on the value of their players and movies. Those who agree with the estimate can download a prepaid shipping label and will receive an additional gift card as payment for their merchandise. Interested customers can call 1-888-BEST-BUY for more information. TOP 10 HIGH-DEF SELLERS H IG H -D EF SELLER S Week ended March 16, 2008 FORMAT LABEL INDEX TOP 10 HIGH-DEF SELLERS HI GH- DE F S E L L E RS Aggregate by Title Week ended March 16, 2008 FORMAT LABEL INDEX TITLE TITLE Bonnie and Clyde H I G H -D E F CO M I NG U P STREETING Bonnie and Clyde Blu-ray Warner Street Date: 3/25 Naked Beneath the Blu-ray BMG/Artista Street Date: 3/25 Steep Blu-ray Sony Pictures Street Date: 3/25 Alvin and the Chipmunks Blu-ray Fox Street Date: 4/1 Unbreakable Blu-ray Disney/Touchstone Street Date: 4/1 PREBOOKING National Treasure: Book Blu-ray Disney Pre: 3/25, Street: 5/20 27 Dresses Blu-ray Fox Pre: 3/26, Street: 4/29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 No Country for Old Men Hitman Dan in Real Life Appleseed: Ex Machina Independence Day August Rush I, Robot Michael Clayton American Gangster Beowulf Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray Blu-ray HD DVD/DVD HD DVD Disney/Miramax 100.00 Fox 50.40 Disney/Touchstone14.65 Warner 12.27 Fox 11.45 Warner 8.66 Fox 8.25 Warner 8.07 Universal 7.85 Paramount 7.15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 No Country for Old Men Hitman Dan in Real Life Appleseed: Ex Machina Independence Day Michael Clayton August Rush I, Robot American Gangster 300 Blu-ray Disney/Miramax 100.00 Blu-ray Fox 50.40 Blu-ray Disney/Touchstone14.65 Blu-ray Warner 12.27 Blu-ray Fox 11.45 BD; HD DVD/DVD Warner 9.43 Blu-ray Warner 8.66 Blu-ray Fox 8.25 HD DVD/DVD Universal 7.85 BD; HD DVD/DVD Warner 7.49 Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data TOP 5 HIGH-DEF BLU-R AY D ISC Week ended March 16, 2008 LABEL INDEX TOP 5 HIGH-DEF HD DVD Week ended March 16, 2008 LABEL INDEX TITLE TITLE 1 2 3 4 5 No Country for Old Men Hitman Dan in Real Life Appleseed: Ex Machina Independence Day Disney/Miramax 100.00 Fox 50.40 Disney/Touchstone 14.65 Warner 12.27 Fox 11.45 Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data 1 2 3 4 5 American Gangster Beowulf Transformers Batman Begins Top Gun Universal 100.00 Paramount 91.16 Para./DreamWorks 54.41 Warner 40.04 Paramount 36.01 Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data 12 Home Media Magazine March 23–29, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://bestbuytradein.com

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Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2008 Contents News TV DVD Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - March 23-29, 2008

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