Home Media Magazine - August 19-25, 2007 - (Page 2)

MENU www.homemediamagazine.com FROM THE EDITOR BY THOMAS K. ARNOLD, PUBLISHER Is Microsoft Fueling the Format War? s Microsoft the big bad puppeteer behind the next-genera- mass consumer adoption of either one. The format war may intion format war? An interesting theory has emerged about crease awareness of next-generation discs and drive down player why, more than a year after the launch of two rival high-def- prices, but I have a hunch that’s not enough to sway significant inition disc formats, underdog HD DVD is still in the market. numbers of potential consumers from plunking down their hardHere’s how it goes: Conventional wisdom holds that Blu-ray earned cash to buy a player that might one day soon be obsolete. Disc should have won by now. The format, deConsumers are waiting until one format veloped by Sony, enjoys the majority of both CONSUMERS ARE WAITING emerges as the clear winner, and that’s precisestudio and consumer electronics support. UNTIL ONE FORMAT EMERGES ly what Microsoft wants them to do — wait, and Granted, it might have been rushed to mar- AS THE CLEAR WINNER, AND wait, and wait, all the while giving electronic deket, before copy-protection and interactivity livery more of a chance to catch on. And it just THAT’S PRECISELY WHAT were fully ripe, but it’s definitely a next-gen- MICROSOFT WANTS [TO GIVE] so happens that Microsoft wants to be a very big eration format, not a tweener, the way HD ELECTRONIC DELIVERY MORE player in the electronic delivery arena, having DVD is. Heck, the early specs for HD DVD OF A CHANCE TO CATCH ON. already rolled its dice with Xbox Live. Microsoft even called for a red laser, not a blue, making doesn’t really want to see either packagedit an even closer cousin to standard DVD. media format succeed, so it’s backing the underdog in the hopes But I digress. HD DVD is exclusively supported by just one of holding off what many see as the inevitable for as long as it can. major studio, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, with This is all just theory, of course. For the record, Microsoft likes Toshiba the only significant manufacturer of HD DVD players. HD DVD’s managed-copy capabilities for its Windows Media So why hasn’t the white flag gone up? Most likely, because Mi- Center and Viiv programs. So does fellow computer giant Intel. crosoft also is in the HD DVD camp, and Microsoft might just But still, you have to wonder. have a vested interest in keeping the format war alive. As long as there are two competing formats, you see, there is little chance of Thomas K. Arnold’s e-mail address is tarnold@questex.com www.homemediamagazine.com PUBLISHER & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR I 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 ART Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Melbert Sebayan Graphic Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles Park RESEARCH Market Research Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Judith McCourt Market Research Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Burner ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Judith McCourt ADVERTISING 800/338-6700, FAX 714/338-6712 Sales Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Judith McCourt 714/338-6741 Director, Business Development . . . . . . . . . . . . Steven J. Apple 818/788-4488 Advertising Sales Representative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Julie Savant 714/368-1020 Advertising Sales Representative . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kurt Wohlman 714/338-6749 Group Administrative Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . Brady Gallardo Business Analyst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joni Wu 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 C ALE N DAR I CEDIA EXPO 2007 The residential electronics industry holds a vital annual show with the CEDIA Expo. Product introductions and industry networking abound at this one-week conference. Registration closes Aug. 31. Sept. 5-9 Colorado Convention Center, Denver info: www.cedia.net/expo IN THIS ISSUE AUGUST 19-25, 2007 / VOL. 29 / NO. 33 News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Genius makes a profit; Image reports Q1 losses but also bigger profit margins; Netflix, Target and Warner serve up a Tony Bennett documentary. >> H I G H-D E F MARKETING Marketing Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kristina Kronenberg 714/338-6743 Online Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Renee Rosado PRODUCTION Production Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bonnie Ling Sr. Production Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeannie Hortness 714/338-6732 Assistant Production Manager . . . . . . . . Justin-Nicholas Toyama News/Box Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Lionsgate wants to up VOD and digital offerings in the wake of Q1 losses; DEG research says consumers prefer DVD and TV over downloads. OFFICES News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Blu-ray rules in overseas markets; season one of “Battlestar Galactica” is landing on HD DVD; Living Landscapes bring nature to high-def. 714/338-6700, 800/371-6897, FAX 714/338-6710 homemediamagazine@questex.com 201 East Sandpointe Ave., Suite 500 Santa Ana, CA 92707-8716 I TV DVD AWARDS Home Media Magazine presents the fifth annual TV DVD Awards Nov. 12 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Century City, Calif. The best TV DVD releases of the past year, as selected by a national consumer vote, will be honored in 15 categories, including best series by decade, best complete-series set and best children’s series. Nov. 12 Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles info: www.homemediaconferences.com Chris Tribbey, Senior Reporter 818-788-8616, FAX 818-530-2486 16130 Ventura Blvd. #570 Encino, CA 91436 CREDIT Credit/Collections Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ron Wright Sr. >> E LE C T R O N I C D E LI V E RY “Wildfire” CIRCULATION For subscriptions, please go online to www.homemediamagazine.com For current single copy, back issues or CD-ROM, call 866/344-1315 or 615/377-3322 for outside the U.S. Audience Development Manager . . . . . . . . . . Sarah Joy Obaña TV DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 The second season of the ABC Family show “Wildfire,” about a girl and her horse, is galloping to DVD; South Park: The Complete Tenth Season offers a World of Warcraft computer game demo; a “Battlestar Galactica” TV movie hits DVD Dec. 4. BUSINESS QUESTEX MEDIA GROUP INC. President & CEO: Kerry C. Gumas; Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer: Tom Caridi; Executive Vice President, Travel & Beauty Group: Robert S. Ingraham; Executive Vice President: Tony D’Avino; Vice President & General Manager, Entertainment Group: Don Rosenberg; Vice President, Digital Media: Seth Nichols; Vice President, Human Resources: Diane Evans © 2007 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. I HIGH-DEF 2.0 Home Media Magazine presents High-Def 2.0, a one-day event that will serve as a preview of what’s in store for the high-definition disc market in 2008, the year the studios have targeted as breakout time for Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. Coming just weeks before the Consumer Electronics Show, the event will provide a sneak peek of studio announcements expected to be made at CES, along with an overview of plans for the coming year, from marquee titles headed to HD disc to advances in interactivity, technology and packaging. Dec. 10 Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles info: www.homemediaconferences.com News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Google Video halts rentals, sales; Veoh launches suit to guard against UMG; research says Web users like video, but not sellthrough options. Q4 Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 See a listing of titles slated for the fourth quarter of this year. Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Warner again conquers the sales chart with 300; Do the DVD extras on Blades of Glory make the cut? Paramount and DreamWorks’ Disturbia takes rentals. Would Geoffrey Wright’s bloody update of Macbeth Top 20 DVD Sellers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 make The Bard queasy? Printed in the U.S.A. Pipeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts . . . . . . . . . 34 Matthew Coppola discusses his debut film, Fresh Cut Just Announced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grass; Fox unveils new Species and “Barney” DVDs; Universal hails Evan Almighty; Fox belts out Deck Genius touts TL http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.cedia.net/expo http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediaconferences.com http://www.homemediaconferences.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - August 19-25, 2007

Contents News News/Box Office News TV DVD Q4 Preview Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - August 19-25, 2007

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