Home Media Magazine - April 20-26, 2008 - (Page 30)

NEWS 1st Quarter Shows Promise for Blu-ray Disc Continued from page 1 www.homemediamagazine.com strong on the sellthrough front, with five of the top 10 DVD sellers, led by Enchanted, the year’s No. 2 seller, overall. Disney also claims the topselling re-release (101 Dalmatians) and the No. 1 direct-to-video title (Snow Buddies). Finishing third in the Q1 market share derby was 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with 12.2% of overall consumer spending on DVD purchases and rentals, combined. The figure includes MGM Home Entertainment titles, which the studio distributes. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment came in a close fourth, with 11.8%, followed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment, neck and neck with respective market shares of 10.5% and 10.4%. Lionsgate finished just behind the six majors with a 9% market share, its best ever. And Genius Products, fueled by theatrical product from The Weinstein Co., continued to be a factor with a market share of 2.2%. Uni Bows Blu Continued from page 1 down 1.2% from the first quarter of 2007 but Blu-ray Disc sales up a whopping 351%. That translates to a net gain of 1.1%. Nielsen numbers are based on point-of-sale data from most big retail chains, with the notable exception of Wal-Mart. Studio executives were buoyed by the overall numbers, which in many cases reflect their own experiences so far this year. “The industry is off to a nice start for the year — we are even in a slightly better position than we were at this time last year,” said Kelley Avery, president of Paramount Worldwide Home Entertainment. “At Paramount, we’ve paced ourselves with a solid line-up in Q1, followed by a steady release schedule as we strategically spread out our titles throughout each quarter this year.” Steve Beeks, president and co-COO of Lionsgate, said the mini-major had the best calendar quarter for home entertainment in its history, with a market share of 9%, up from 6.8% in the first quarter of 2007. “Lionsgate and the home entertainment industry both got off to a fast start in 2008,” Beeks said. He noted that DVD was holding its own, with new-release DVD sales only slightly below new-release DVD sales in the first quarter of 2007, even though their collective box office value was 9% less than in the year-ago quarter. Catalog sales, meanwhile, were up 2%, while Bluray’s phenomenal unit sales gains were magnified by the format’s higher margins. “Blu-ray had its second-best week ever in the week ended March 23, and we anticipate Blu-ray sales of $800 million to $1 billion-plus for all of 2008, up dramatically from approximately $300 million last year,” Beeks said. “Fueled by this growth in the high-margin sector of the packagedmedia business, as well as by 27% growth in VOD and digital spending, we expect the home entertainment industry overall to grow in 2008 and continue growing in 2009.” Independent home video suppliers also are reporting an up first quarter. At Anchor Bay Entertainment, both overall first-quarter results and Blu-ray Disc sales are “trending ahead of expectations,” said president Bill Clark. In terms of studio market share, Warner Home Video, buoyed by its distributed New Line Home Entertainment and HBO Video lines, snagged 20.1% of total consumer home entertainment spending in the first quarter of this year. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment came in second, with a market share of 14.8%, according to Home Media research estimates. Disney, as always, was particularly NAB Focus: Delivery Options Continued from page 1 Kilar began his career at Disney before spending a decade at Amazon. com, where he helped lead its entry into the video and DVD markets. At NAB, Hollywood types such as film directors Doug Liman and Barry Sonnenfeld spoke about the future of content and integrated methods of delivery, as did producers of the “C.S.I.” and “Lost” television series. Kilar’s presentation on Web delivery embodied a vital message of the vast NAB confab — that content must be available on the consumer’s terms. For Hulu.com, already a go-to site after only one month live, those terms mean free access to a vast selection of hit shows, clips, movies and more. Hulu partners with such leading content companies as NBC, FOX, MGM, Sony Pictures Television, Bravo, E! Entertainment Television, FX Networks, National Geographic, Oxygen, Sundance Channel, Sci Fi Channel and USA Network. This content is distributed through Hulu’s partnerships with AOL, Comcast, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo. “Online video viewing has more than tripled in the last year,” Kilar said of the industry. “It’s a strong trend. Clearly, users are embracing media when it’s made available on their terms.” By making the experience as easy and clutter-free as possible — not to portant to Hulu,” he said. electronic manufacturers are looking David Rehr, president and CEO of to move that experience to the home. mention legal — Kilar said, Hulu the NAB, said the trade group is work- A new alliance seeking to advance gained a distinct advantage. ing to help bring digital TV to a variety the adoption of 3-D entertainment He said the key to Hulu’s success of portable devices. During opening in the home launched at the show, and survival was allowing for easy remarks, he said broadcast television involving 22 companies, including access to niche and mainstream con- could earn an estimated additional $2 Disney, Philips and Samsung. The tent. He said the quirky (and canceled) billion a year in revenues by 2012 from 3D@Home Consortium includes Fox comedy “Arrested Development” new and repurposed content. high-tech industry leaders who will was the No. 1 rated program on the site Additional delivery methods dis- work together in an attempt to bring during the first month. cussed at NAB also further explored consumers quality, affordable inUsers can embed entire episodes such concepts as 3-D television. With home 3-D entertainment. Also inand share with friends, or they can 3-D movies in theaters now a proven volved are Universal Studios Home embed certain portions of the ad- attraction, content providers and Entertainment and Imax. supported content. The time for content on consumer terms comes at a L ATE FL ASH ES moment of transition, Kilar said. “There is no doubt that over the last two decades, watching certain programI STUDY: CONSUMERS video game industry report from The ming from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in your WARM TO CONNECTED DISCS NPD Group. The report also noted that living room has decreased,” Kilar said. A new report from The Diffusion Group subscription cards and points for Xbox The trend will also affect the DVD shows that consumers are getting hip Live’s software download service were a industry. Kilar described an e-mail to the idea of Web-enabled features hot-selling item during the month. Sales from a customer, who said he beon their next standard-DVD player. The of video game hardware, software and came a fan of the series “It’s Always report looked at nine Internet-enabled accessories are up 46% or more over the Sunny in Philadelphia” through features. The most popular feature was same period last year. Hulu, then went out and bought the — Chris Tribbey updated movie trailers or previews, with first two seasons on DVD. 37% of respondents showing interest. “People are sampling,” he said. “NoChatting with others via the DVD player Correction: In a last week’s story “Online to Lead Movie, TV Rental Business by 2010” (HM April body is going to sample a $20 DVD if showed the least support among con13), it should have stated that by-mail rental, they don’t know the show. Some will sumers, with only 13% showing interest. which includes Netflix and Blockbuster Online, watch the box set or TV broadcast, but — Chris Tribbey would generate 37% of revenue by 2010, up from 25% last year, according to The Convermore importantly [through Hulu] the gence Consulting Group. Apple iTunes, on a per show is now finding its audience.” I PS3 SELLS QUARTER MIL movie basis, sold 10,000 units in 2007 compared Kilar said the site was working with Another quarter-million Blu-ray Disc to 13,000 units in 2006. Overall, however, the CE manufacturers to be able to deliver players were sold in March, in the form service sold 5.7 million movie downloads in 2007 Hulu to the TV and portable devices. of the PlayStation 3, according to a U.S. compared to 1.3 million in 2006. “Any Web-connect device is im- top supporter of the failed HD DVD format threw its support behind Bluray the day format developer Toshiba officially threw in the towel two months ago, but without any details. Now, Kornblau said, he’s ready to go public with Universal Studio’s Blu-ray strategy, which includes plans to release approximately 40 titles in the second half of this year. Among them: the studio’s five big feature films of the summer: The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton; Wanted, with Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie; Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army; Mamma Mia, the adaptation of the Abba musical, starring Meryl Streep; and the sequel The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, with Jet Li, Maria Bello and Michelle Yeoh joining the returning Brendan Fraser and John Hannah. “We’re thrilled that our preliminary slate of Blu-ray offerings comprises such a brilliant collection of highdef-centric fare,” Kornblau said. Universal will officially enter the Bluray Disc market July 22 with a trio of films from its “Mummy” franchise: The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, both starring Fraser, and the spinoff The Scorpion King, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Also planned for domestic Blu-ray release before the year is up are catalog titles American Gangster, Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Miami Vice, End of Days, U-571 and Land of the Dead, among others. The second season of the hit TV series “Heroes” will be Universal Studios’ first global Blu-ray Disc release, with a worldwide release date set for Aug. 26, the same day as the DVD. Universa http://www.homemediamagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - April 20-26, 2008

Home Media Magazine - April 20-26, 2008 Contents News Commentary TV DVD Horror Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - April 20-26, 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.