Home Media Magazine - November 11-17, 2007 - (Page 15) www.homemediamagazine.com ELECTRONIC DELIVERY BRIEFS I FILM MOVEMENT STARTS Several news stories and editorials have FESTIVAL VOD CHANNEL postulated on whether the move would Film Movement, a New York-based independent and foreign-film distributor, together with sponsor Stella Artois has launched the Film Festival Channel, a nationwide, free video-on-demand channel. Film Festival Channel (FFC) will feature award-winning independent and foreign films from festivals around the world. It will be carried by Cox Communications, Verizon FiOS TV, Comcast Washington State Market, Mediacom, Armstrong and Bresnan Communications. – Billy Gil indicate a viable business plan for paid digital downloads for the music industry, as well as the film industry. – Billy Gil Panel: Studios Figuring Digital Into Planning By Chris Tribbey OS ANGELES — Five leading experts in the industry mulled the cloudy future of the postDVD world at the iHollywood Digital Conference during this year’s American Film Market Nov. 6. “Studios are rethinking every aspect of the business,” said Krishnan Rajagopalan, the VP of digital media technologies for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). He pointed to recent moves by studios to add digital copies of movies on DVD, in an effort to combat — or at least acknowledge — attempts at piracy. Richard Bullwinkle, chief evangelist for Macrovision, said his company’s protection software is on 5 billion DVDs and 1 billion players. Now the company is looking at how best to protect high-def and digital videos. “We’re sort of the Tony Soprano of the protection business,” he said. Bullwinkle pointed out that digital downloading is still a drop in the I BLINKX TO BOW WEB TV Blinkx, a San Francisco-based online video search engine, is working to launch a Web-based broadband TV service next year. Blinkx Broadband TV will cater to niche programming, including health and lifestyle, to attract advertisers leery of usergenerated content. An exact launch date has not been determined. – Erik Gruenwedel L bucket in terms of studio revenue, and that’s due to the consumer. “Consumers are still happy with packaged media,” he said, adding that reasons for that include fear of hard drives crashing, concern over what they’re purchasing online and lack of standards for digital downloads playing on every type of media device. “The focus needs to be on providing content that freely moves around the home,” he said. “A DVD will play on almost any DVD player.” Still, the studios know part of the focus must be on digital delivery, Rajagopalan said. In 2005, the MPAA recorded major studio worldwide theatrical revenue at only 16%. The rest came from home media. “[We need] more consistent standards,” he said. “Services are not consistent.” See PANEL, Page 36 I DOWNLOADERS PAY FOR NEW RADIOHEAD ALBUM Radiohead, who released their album In Rainbows as a pay-what-you-want digital download, saw an average of $2.26 per legal download, according to comScore Inc. Data showed 38% of downloaders paid, with an average price of $6 (the $2.26 figure factors in those who declined to pay). Americans paid an average price of $8.05. Most users paid less than $4, although 12% paid between $8 and $12 — about what a full album costs on iTunes. I SURVEY SAYS NEARLY 80% OF ADULTS SURF WEB A telephone survey conducted by Harris Interactive found 79% of U.S. adults now go online, up from 77% during the same period last year. The number of online users has reached approximately 178 million, the survey found. The amount of time adults spend online also has risen to 11 hours per week, on average, up from 9 hours last year. – Billy Gil XBOX LIVE GETS ESPN CONTENT By Chris Tribbey C ustomers of Xbox 360’s Live Video Marketplace can now view college basketball and college football games, episodes of the “Xgames” and “The World Series of Poker” through the service. The agreement between ESPN and Microsoft Corp. calls for more sports content, much of which will be available in high- definition. The series “Madden Nation” and “The Contender” also are included in the deal. “Establishing this relationship with Microsoft on Xbox 360 provides an innovative way to reach our target demographic,” said Matt Murphy, SVP of Digital Video Distribution for Disney and ESPN Media Networks. TOP 10 RANK TITLE E LE C TR ON IC SELLTH R OUG H Week ended November 5, 2007 RELEASE DATE VIDEO LABEL GENRE TOP 10 RANK TITLE ELECTRONIC SELLTHROUGH Week ended November 4, 2007 RELEASE DATE VIDEO LABEL GENRE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Spider-Man 3 Knocked Up Evan Almighty License to Wed Day Watch Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Talk to Me Hostel: Part II Next 28 Weeks Later 10/30/07 10/22/07 10/9/07 10/30/07 10/30/07 10/2/07 10/30/07 10/23/07 9/25/07 10/9/07 Sony Pictures Universal Universal Warner Fox Fox Universal Sony Pictures Paramount Fox Action Comedy Comedy Comedy Fantasy Action Drama Horror Thriller Horror Source: Movielink 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Spider-Man 3 Day Watch Hostel: Part II Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer License to Wed Wild Hogs 300 Meet the Robinsons 28 Weeks Later Surf’s Up 10/30/07 10/30/07 10/23/07 10/2/07 10/30/07 8/14/07 7/31/07 10/23/07 10/9/07 10/9/07 Sony Pictures Fox Sony Pictures Fox Warner Disney/Touchstone Warner Disney Fox Sony Pictures Action Fantasy Horror Action Comedy Comedy Action Animated Horror Animated Source: CinemaNow TOP 10 RANK TITLE RE NTA L DOW NLOADS Week ended November 5, 2007 RELEASE DATE VIDEO LABEL GENRE TOP 10 RANK TITLE RENTA L DOW N L O A D S Week ended November 4, 2007 RELEASE DATE VIDEO LABEL GENRE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 License to Wed Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Georgia Rule Disturbia Closure The Contract The Reaping In the Land of Women Blades of Glory Wild Hogs 10/30/07 10/31/07 10/19/07 9/21/07 11/2/07 9/10/07 10/16/07 10/30/07 10/12/07 9/28/07 Warner Fox Universal Sony Pictures First Look Warner Warner Disney/Touchstone Comedy Action Drama Drama Thriller Horror Drama Comedy Source: Movielink 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer The Invisible License to Wed The Reaping The Lives of Others Bobby Z Closure Bug In the Land of Women Blades of Glory 10/31/07 10/31/07 10/30/07 10/16/07 10/20/07 10/19/07 11/2/07 10/24/07 10/30/07 10/12/07 Fox Disney/Hollywood Warner Warner Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Lionsgate Warner Action Thriller Comedy Horror Drama Action Drama Thriller Drama Source: CinemaNow Paramount/DreamWorks Thriller Paramount/DreamWorks Comedy Paramount/DreamWorks Comedy Home Media Magazine November 11–17, 2007 15 http://www.homemediamagazine.com
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