Home Media Magazine - November 11-17, 2007 - (Page 5) NOVEMBER 11–17, 2007 >> ELECTRONIC DELIVE RY CinemaNow Secures CSS Burns By Erik Gruenwedel inemaNow Inc. has cleared a final hurdle, allowing it to legally sell copyprotected Hollywood movies and music videos that can be burned to a DVD playable on any player. The electronic sellthrough pioneer will use Sonic Solutions’ Qflix and Roxie Venue movie download technologies to enable users to burn CSS (Content Scramble System) encrypt- C BRINGING DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT TO YOU ed movies to blank DVDs playable on standard DVD players and PCs. Major movie downloads and television programming are available from $1.99 to $19.95. The DVD Copy Control Association in September approved for the first time the ability for commercial vendors and consumers to create CSS copies protected for playback on standard DVDs. See CINEMANOW, Page 38 INSIDE >> Digital Plans Panelists discuss downloading, copy protection. >> Xbox Live Gets Sporty The service adds ESPN content. PAGE 15 Striking Writers Dig In They are determined to get a bigger piece of the DVD and digital delivery pie By Erik Gruenwedel triking writers last week appeared united in their resolve to extract a larger piece of the DVD and digital-delivery pie from major studios and media corporations. Jay Leno supplied donuts, and Eva Longoria handed out pizza. Meanwhile other TV stars, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus and comedienne Wanda Sykes, marched holding Writers Guild of America (WGA) placards at picket lines in New York and Los Angeles. WGA leaders Nov. 5 authorized a membership vote for a strike after marathon negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) failed to resolve recurring DVD-compensation issues. Writers went to the picket lines last week after they didn’t get the residual deal they wanted from The strike is expected to shut down or delay the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television producers. production of prime-time television programming, late night talk shows, soap operas and in Universal City, Calif., said that while he and show “Eureka,” was among a group of 40 related events indefinitely. other writers would love to go back to work as protestors that picketed NBC Universal’s emWriter Eric Wallace, one of the strike captains soon as possible, bargaining could take a while. ployee gates on Lankershim Boulevard Nov. 7. at picket lines in front of NBC/Universal Studios Wallace, who works on the Sci Fi Channel See WRITERS, Page 40 S ‘Sedate’ AFM Still Spawns Some Deals By Chris Tribbey o the newcomer at the American Film Market, everything would have looked as advertised. It was a bustling movie trade festival with more than 500 films shown, and hundreds of meetings taking place between distributors, producers, content owners and directors. But while many struck distribution deals and a reported record 8,300-plus attended the event held Oct. 31-Nov. 7 in Santa Monica, Calif., some expressed concerns. “There wasn’t a lot of new product to see,” said Michael Baker, VP of acquisitions and development for ThinkFilm. “A lot of suites I went into had little to no new films for domestic available. I went to fewer screenings than ever before and wasn’t excited by most of what I saw. Overall, a disappointing year.” See AFM, Page 38 T >> HI GH-DEF INSIDE >> HD DVD Players Up Sale pushes unit number toward 500K. >> Wal-Mart Opens Early Shopper says store opened before advertised for Toshiba sale. PAGE 14 H IG H-DE F MAR KET S HAR E Blu-ray and HD DVD Sales Comparison as of 11/4/07 Week Ended 11/4 Year-to-Date I Blu-ray I HD DVD BLU-RAY REGAINS LEAD IN HD TITLES By Chris Tribbey Paramount No. 1 in October Market Share By Thomas K. Arnold RESEARCH Powered by the strong sales performance of DreamWorks’ Transformers, Paramount Home Entertainment took the market share award for October, accounting for 20% of total DVD sales in the month, according to Nielsen sales data. Transformers sold 8.3 million DVDs in the week after its Oct. 16 release, according to Paramount. Next in market share for October came See OCTOBER, Page 40 Since Inception W 29% 71% 64% 36% 61% 39% Source: Nielsen VideoScan: First Alert data hen Paramount Home Entertainment and DreamWorks Animation SKG Blu-ray Disc titles were taken out of the picture in August, Bluray lost 29 titles in its repertoire. That doesn’t include three titles that had been announced but not released. HD DVD’s stint as leader in terms of high-def releases proved short-lived, See BLU-RAY, Page 36 PRODUCT El Cid marks the first release from Genius Products and The Weinstein Co.’s new Miriam Collection. RESEARCH Sony Pictures spun out a top seller and rental with the release of Spider-Man 3 on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. NEWS New Blockbuster Inc. CEO Jim Keyes told analysts of missteps made by previous management and that in-store rental has legs. Page 32 Page 34 Page 36
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