Home Media Magazine - April 6 - April 12, 2009 - (Page 8) HIGH-DEF www.homemediamagazine.com Netflix to Raise BD Prices By Erik Gruenwedel RETAIL Netflix March 30 said it will begin charging subscribers of Blu-ray movies upwards of 24% more per month to rent the high-definition format. The Los Gatos, Calif.-based service said the rate hikes will take effect April 27 for all Blu-ray subscribers and immediately for DVD subscribers electing to receive BD content for the first time. The company said Blu-ray titles cost 30% more than DVD. The rate hikes vary by plan, with the $4.99 one-DVD-out-at-a-time (two DVDs a month) plan increasing to $5.99 per month with Blu-ray. The unlimited one-DVD-outat-a-time plan for $8.99 would increase to $10.99. The $13.99 per month unlimited two-DVDs-out at-a-time would increase by $3. Three-DVDsout-at-a-time (unlimited) for $16.99 would increase by $4. Four-DVDs-out-at-a-time (unlimited) would increase by $5 to $28.99; five DVDs (unlimited) would increase by $6 to $35.99; six DVDs (unlimited) would increase by $7 to $42.99; an additional $8 would tack on for seven DVDs (unlimited) to total $49.99; and $9 would be added for eight DVDs (unlimited) to make it $56.99 per month. “We’re very bullish on Blu-ray,” said Netflix spokesperson Steve Swasey. STUDIOS AIM FOR MORE DIRECTOR INTERACTION THROUGH BD LIVE Netflix, which claims that 10% of its 10 million members acBy Chris Tribbey tively rent Blu-rays, had been charging BD users a $1 monthly niversal Studios Home Entertainsurcharge. The new pricing replaces the surcharge. ment and Warner Home Video The service has more than 1,300 BD titles available commay have developed the best BD pared to more than 100,000 DVD titles. Live feature so far. They’re the only two Michael Pachter, analyst with Wedbush studios to have a director chat live with Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, esfans while the Blu-ray Disc of the film was timated the cost to Netflix for a DVD rolling. Guillermo del Toro did it in Novemis about $1.20 per use, and the cost for ber for Universal’s Hellboy II: The Golden Blu-ray is about $1.80. He estimated that Army, and in December Christopher Nothe average Netflix user watches six movlan for Warner’s The Dark Knight. ies per month, including two Blu-rays. “I am surprised that there have only Pachter said the incremental cost associbeen those two,” said Adam Gregorich of ated with the two BD titles is $1.20, which Home Theater Forum. “But having said he believes Netflix had been covering. that, a downside to the chats is that there “We don’t expect this surcharge change are so many users only a few can get their to impact usage or membership dramatically, given that questions answered.” there is not really anywhere else for people to go since Universal had more than 400 questions Blockbuster raised prices on heavy users,” Pachter said submitted for its chat, and Warner opened in a note. “Thus, any revenue increase should drop to the bottom line.” Investors heralded the price hikes, sending Netflix stock up 8.5% at $42.87 per share two days after the announcement was made. By Erik Gruenwedel Pachter expects Netflix to grow revenue from $24 mil- HARDWARE Samsung Electronics lion to $30 million annually with the BD surcharges. March 31 unveiled three new hometheater-in-a-box (HTiB) systems with Blu-ray capability priced from $549 — about $250 less than the company’s earlier HTiB models. units by 2012, up from 68.9 million said Randy Lawson, senior analyst for Second-generation HTiBs feature a By Billy Gil RESEARCH Global shipments of high- in 2008. Projections list 52.9% of set- DTV and display electronics at iSuppli. combination Blu-ray player (formerly definition consumer electronics prod- top boxes, camcorders, DVD players “The high-tech industry’s efforts to DVD), multichannel amplifier, suructs, from HD set-top boxes and Blu- and video game consoles shipped provide HD service to every home now round-sound speakers and a lowray Disc players to high-def camcord- to be HD-capable, up from 21.6% are finally coming to fruition. This has frequency subwoofer. resulted in an explosion of shipments Originally announced at CES in Janers and next-generation video-game in 2008. “For the last 20 years, HD video of consumer-electronics devices that uary, the Samsung devices include consoles, are projected to triple by 2012 over 2008’s HD shipments, ac- has been the holy grail for consumer support HD video, from new Blu- the aforementioned entry-level HTelectronics OEMs (original equipment ray DVD players to ultra-thin LCD BD1250, the HT-BD8100 ($799), and cording to iSuppli Corp. HD-capable equipment shipments manufacturers), as well as for avid HD Televisions (HDTVs) — and even the $799 HT-BD7200. All three units feature for the first are expected to rise to 202 million home theater fans around the world,” some portable media players.” U up its chat to 100,000 users. “I laud Universal and Warner — and mostly del Toro and Nolan — for doing these BD-Live director chats, as I think we need to explore the format,” added Van Ling, a freelance DVD and Blu-ray producer. “However, as with most chats, there are glitches and traffic issues, and having the movie running is difficult to synchronize with the incoming questions and time-consuming answers.” Both Warner and Universal reported that the chats went off without a hitch. Hilary Hoffman, SVP of brand and digital marketing for USHE, said the chat with Del Toro “was a unique and exciting opportunity for fans of the film to connect directly, in real-time, with this brilliant, charismatic and very engaging filmmaker.” Samsung Bows Cheaper Blu-ray HTiB time BD Live capability, 1080p resolution, a JPEG viewer, and can stream Netflix movies and Pandora music downloads (with subscriptions). The units stream Web content through an Ethernet port or separate Wi-Fi, USB 2.0 attachment, available for $80. The HTiBs also allow docking with the Apple iPod and can play back MP3 and WMA music files, and DivX and MPEG-4 video files. Separately, Samsung announced a new series (8000, 7000 and 6000) of flat-panel LED HDTVs that consume less energy by using edge-mounted LED instead of fluorescent lamps. Priced from $1,599.99, the HDTVs also feature third-party widgets. Report: HD Product Shipments to Triple by 2012 TOP 20 HIGH-DEF BLU-R AY D ISC Week ended March 29, 2009 LABEL INDEX* TOP 20 HIGH-DEF B D TI TL E S HA R E Percentage of Sales Per Title vs DVD* Week ended March 29, 2009 LABEL PERCENT TITLE TITLE B LU- R AY D I S C CO M I NG U P STREETING 8 Mile Universal Street Date: 4/14 Mean Girls Paramount Street Date: 4/14 Pride & Prejudice A&E Street Date: 4/14 The Spirit Lionsgate Street Date: 4/14 Splinter Magnolia Street Date: 4/14 The Story of India PBS/Paramount Street Date: 4/14 The Thirteenth Floor Sony Pictures Street Date: 4/14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Quantum of Solace Twilight Bolt Casino Royale Pinocchio: Platinum Edition Role Models Transporter 3 The Dark Knight Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter Punisher: War Zone The Fast and the Furious Trilogy James Bond Blu-ray: Volume Three Iron Man Australia Transformers Hancock The World Is Not Enough Sleeping Beauty: Platinum Edition Step Brothers King Kong *Units sold compared to No. 1 title Fox Summit Disney Sony Pictures Disney Universal Lionsgate Warner Warner Lionsgate Universal Fox/MGM Paramount Fox Para./DW Sony Pictures Fox/MGM Disney Sony Pictures Universal 100.00 41.14 40.69 7.74 6.07 3.13 2.97 2.91 2.85 2.77 2.59 2.39 2.21 2.06 1.94 1.93 1.90 1.84 1.66 1.64 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Casino Royale Iron Man The Dark Knight Step Brothers Quantum of Solace Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter Body of Lies Wall-E Pinocchio: Platinum Edition Zack and Miri Make a Porno Eagle Eye Punisher: War Zone Transporter 3 Australia Bolt Pineapple Express Role Models Milk Twilight Madagascar *Concurrent DVD & Blu-ray releases only Sony Pictures Paramount Warner Sony Pictures Fox Warner Warner Disney Disney Genius/Weinstein Para./DW Lionsgate Lionsgate Fox Disney Sony Pictures Universal Universal Summit Para./DW 53.49% 45.35% 37.43% 34.63% 28.29% 23.07% 22.75% 20.40% 17.59% 16.87% 16.71% 15.74% 15.55% 13.94% 13.49% 12.69% 11.59% 9.40% 7.54% 7.35% Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Home Media Magazine April 6–12, 2009 http://www.homemediamagazine.com
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