Home Media Magazine - September 2-8, 2007 - (Page 48) NEWS Sony Projects 1M Blu-ray Disc Sales by Q4 By Erik Gruenwedel H D Sony Pictures Home Entertainment said it expects to reach 1 million total Blu-ray Disc unit sales in North America by the fourth quarter, following releases of Spider-Man 3 (Sept. 3) and Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Nov. 12). Close Encounters represents Spielberg’s first HD release. The studio, which said its Blu-ray movie sales in Europe topped the 250,000 mark, added that sales of the format in emerging markets Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, www.homemediaretailing.com Eastern Europe, South Africa and the Middle East account for 10% of Sony’s international home entertainment business. “These sales milestones across the world illuminate the positive reception from retailers and consumers alike for Blu-ray,” said David Bishop, president, worldwide for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. “Our strong fourthquarter line-up will underscore the confidence in this format.” Sony said through Aug. 12, sales of Blu-ray movies sold two-to-five times that of rival HD DVD following the launch of the PlayStation 3 in March. The studio said Blu-ray movies account for 69% of the European highdef market, with Sony titles comprising a 47% market share. James Bond remake Casino Royale is the top selling HD title in Europe. “With the breadth of titles already available on Blu-ray, the format is outselling HD DVD by more than 2to-1 in Europe,” said Simon McDowell, SVP, Europe, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. “Going into Q4, SPHE has a strong slate on deck and support from retailers, which should further propel momentum for Blu-ray.” Fox Shows ‘Reel Talent’ Warner Study Finds Consumers Need Info Continued from page 1 Students gathered Aug. 22 at USC to view the student films of directors and alumni Jon Turteltaub and Kevin Reynolds, in celebration of the DVD release of Reel Talent: First Films by Legendary Directors, from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. (L-R): Director Turteltaub; Elizabeth Monk Daley, dean of the USC School of Cinematic Arts; director Reynolds and Fox’s Chris Argyropoulos. Photo by Tiffany Koury©Berliner Warner Home Video, unlike other major studios, remains format agnostic, distributing movies in both Blu-ray and HD DVD. Among consumers with an HDTV, 58% said they had no need for an HD player; 46% said prices were too high and 23% said they lacked enough information about either format to make an informed purchase. Twenty-seven percent said they would wait out the format war for a clear winner. The survey found that regarding HD player pricing, “purchase positive” consumers were willing to pay slightly more ($239) than “nonpositive” consumers at $166. “I think at this point our biggest challenge as an industry is to find ways to work together to create consumer awareness and demand for high-definition media,” said Ron Sanders, president of Warner Home Video. “Regardless of the number of formats in the marketplace, highdefinition media represents the most immediate means to revenue growth for the home video industry, and we need to focus on that opportunity.” Andy Parsons, SVP, industrial solutions business group, Pioneer Electronics, and spokesperson for the Blu-ray Disc Association, said the data indicates “a bit of a road to travel” for the industry regarding mass adoption of high-def packaged media. He said the industry has done a poor job educating consumers that simply purchasing an HDTV does not result in automatically watching high-def content. “Certainly, it is an indication that we need to do our very best, particularly at retail, to show people what we are talking about,” Parsons said. He cited recent talk about 1080p resolution and the reality that most consumers have likely watched content in 720p resolution or worse. “Hearing people talk about HD doesn’t really work,” Parson said. “You have to experience it and see it on a proper HD display.” He said the study suggests the industry hasn’t done a good job selling high definition. The industry could partner with cable TV, which he said has been aggressively pushing highdef and could help packaged media as it has with standard DVD. “Standard-definition cable is not stopping the standard DVD business, so there is no reason to expect an HD-cable broadcast would be any different with respect to Blu-ray,” Parsons said. “If we get more households adopting true HD, it would be a good thing. If consumers get a glimpse of what real HD content looks like on cable, they will buy HD discs.” He said high-def packaged media remains in the early-adopter phase, and he questioned why HD DVD has been aggressively cutting the price of its players. Parsons said price cuts typically occur during mass-market appeal with a wide array of available content. “You don’t see people heading down to Best Buy because there is a cheap player available,” he said. “They go down because they want to see high-def content. That’s when you want to have price reductions.” L AT E F L A S H E S I NETFLIX STREAMING SERVICE TOPS 10M VIEWS Online DVD rental pioneer Netflix Inc. said through Aug. 22 subscribers have watched streamed movies and TV episodes 10 million times through Netflix on their PCs — doubling the number of views since July. Los Gatos, Calif.-based Netflix launched its $40 million streaming service as a value-added service to subscribers in January and topped 5 million views in its first six months of operation. The company credited the burgeoning rise in subscribers’ use of the service due to the availability of titles such as Letters From Iwo Jima, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Good German and the BBC’s original series “The Office.” —Erik Gruenwedel an $11.2 million charge based on longterm inventory purchase commitments to the standard definition DVR business. TiVo, which recently bowed an HD DVR, said it remains committed to servicing the analog basic cable market, including homes not looking to upgrade to HD. Net revenue increased to $62.6 million, compared to $59.3 million last year. —Erik Gruenwedel I REPORT: CHINA TO DRIVE GLOBAL ENTERTAINMENT China’s burgeoning assent into mass consumption of popular culture is expected to help grow the global entertainment industry 10% through 2011, according to a new study. Despite the presence of just 15 government-owned movie studios in the most populace country, Research and Markets, a Dublin, Ire.-based research firm, found a high demand for foreign and U.S.-made movies. The report, “Entertainment Industry in China — PEST Framework Analysis,” found that 70% of the country’s annual movie revenue came from just 10 imported films, compared to 30% from about 100 domestic movies. —Erik Gruenwedel Chinese HD DVD Player at $199 Continued from page 1 I DISCONTINUED 60GB PS3 GONE FROM SONY SITE The 60GB PlayStation 3 is no longer available through Sony’s Web site. However, the discontinued version is still available at retail stores and through other retail stores’ Web sites. “The 60GB PS3 will be available in North America for $499 until supplies of that unit are depleted,” a Sony representative told GamePro.com. –Chris Tribbey tivity, which allows for network access to studios and third parties via the Internet. Wal-Mart is widely considered to have opened the floodgates to mass consumer appeal of DVD when it began selling $40 Chinese made DVD players the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) in 2003. Toshiba currently sells its HD-A2 HD DVD player for $299 after a $100 manufacturer’s rebate. When factoring in the five free HD DVD titles included in the purchase available through Oct. 31, the actual retail price is lower than the SHD7000. Recently, Craig Kornblau, presi- dent of Universal Studios Home Entertainment and spokesperson for the HD DVD Promotional Group, reportedly said a potential winner in the ongoing format war with Blu-ray Disc could be determined with the advent of a sub-$200 player. Separately, South Korean electronics manufacturer Daewoo unveiled a Blu-ray Disc player, the DBP-1000 at the IFA confab in Berlin. The device, unlike early edition Blu-ray players, features 1080p resolution and supports network feature BD Live and picture-in-picture (PIP), specifications just recently developed. Daewoo mentioned no retail price or release date. I TIVO Q2 LOSS NEARLY TRIPLES Facing increased retail and consumer focus on high definition, digital video recording pioneer TiVo Inc. posted second-quarter (ended July 31) losses of $17.6 million, compared to losses of $6.4 million during the same period last year. The Alviso, Calif.-based service’s loss was impacted by I DEG GOES ABROAD Hollywood’s The DEG: Digital Entertainment Group and the Digital Entertainment Group Europe based in London have partnered to share sales figures, developments of industry trends and collateral materials that can be used at retail and with the trades to promote high-definition packaged media globally. —Erik Gruenwedel HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE (ISSN 1934-9882) is published 52 times per year by Questex Media Group, Inc., 306 West Michigan Street, Suite 200, Duluth, MN 55802. Subscription rates: $49.99 for one year in the United States and Possessions; $79.99 for one year in Canada and Mexico; all other countries $99.99 for one year (by surface mail). Add $75 annually for air-expedited service. Single copies (prepaid only): $6.99 in the United States, $8.99 in Canada and Mexico, $13.99 all other countries. Back issues, if available: $9.99 in the U.S.; $15.99 in Canada and Mexico; $26.99 for all other countries. Include $6.50 per order plus $2 per additional copy for U.S. postage and handling. Periodicals postage paid at Duluth MN 55806 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE, P.O. Box 5064, Brentwood, TN 37024-5064. Canadian G.S.T. number: 840033278RT0001, Publications Mail Agreement Number 40017597. Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright, 2007 Questex Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may http://www.homemediaretailing.com http://GamePro.com
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.