Home Media Magazine - November 25-December 1, 2007 - (Page 32)

NEWS Sony’s Stringer Still Supporting Blu-ray Disc Continued from page 1 www.homemediamagazine.com box office in recent years,” as well as Lionsgate, MGM and Sony Pictures. HD DVD is exclusively supported by Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment, with Warner Home Video releasing titles in both formats. “I think Blu-ray is just a better format,” Stringer said. “Our partners are with Blu-ray Disc because, first of all, we have greater security, which Fox is particularly good at. Disney thinks it’s a better picture [quality]. And the sheer amount of bandwidth on the disc gives directors and beyond all kinds of future opportunity, including director’s cuts and who knows what 3-D capabilities … down the road. “I think that’s why Steven Spielberg held out his own product from going to HD DVD. Ultimately, if you’re passionate about movies, which these DVD collectors are, Blu-ray is the best answer. I think that is true, and we see that in the blogging environment. “It isn’t the cheaper format, but it is the better format.” Stringer also said while HD DVD might have made inroads with price cuts, both of hardware and of software, Blu-ray hardware prices probably won’t sink much below $400. “We haven’t announced any price cuts yet, but obviously the PS3 at $399 was a price cut, and that’s also a Blu-ray player,” he said. “We’re comfortable with the situation at the moment.” Stringer also elaborated on the zoom in PlayStation 3 sales after Sony cut the price of its 80GB model by $100 and launched a 40GB model. Last week Sony said in the two weeks ended Nov. 11 more than 100,000 game consoles were sold. Stringer said ultimately he could see the PS3 becoming as big as the PlayStation 2, the most successful video game machine ever. “The momentum shift and the energy behind PS3 in time for Christmas is extremely fortuitous,” he said. “It was planned by the PlayStation group, but I think this momentum now — particularly the number of games coming out, including our own as well as third-party — is the same as it was with PlayStation 2.” Noting that “it takes time to build a new format,” Stringer insisted PS3 is “not behind the curve compared to PlayStation 2 in terms of momentum.” “The amount of bandwidth and the processing power of Cell gives game manufacturers a lot more work to do to use this system to its full benefit — and it’s taken a while to do it,” he said. “The same was true of PlayStation 2.” He said Sony was waiting for the $399 price tag “to see if, indeed, the loyal PlayStation customers — and there are 200 million of them who have PS2 — [would] kick in, and clearly the value proposition has sent the message.” Munchkins in Hollywood The Munchkins from The Wizard of Oz were inducted into Hollywood’s Walk of Fame Nov. 20. Pictured (L-R): Clarence Swensen, Jerry Maren, Karl Slover, Ruth Duccini, Margaret Pellegrini and Meinhardt Raabe. Warner Home Video is re-releasing the film in two special editions, both with a remastered soundtrack and Warner’s Ultra-Resolution. Trans World Reports Q3 Loss Continued from page 1 Warner Total HD on Hold Continued from page 1 EMA Show Continued from page 1 entertainment, while celebrating the phenomenal success of the DVD and the industry that brings home entertainment to the consumer.” The dates were moved up a month from the show’s usual July time slot to better showcase fourth-quarter product, according to the EMA. Home Media Expo invites entertainment retailers, distributors and suppliers, as well as others with a professional interest in the home entertainment industry. The show began as an annual gathering of the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA), until VSDA merged with the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) in 2006, coming together as EMA. Home Entertainment Events (also owned by Home Media Magazine parent Questex Media) is producing EMA’s Home Media Expo 2008. Blu-ray Disc content on one side and HD DVD content on the other, in the hopes of squashing the format war before it could really begin to rage. The thinking was consumers could get both formats on one disc and thus wouldn’t have to choose. Plans were to have the first Total HD discs on the market by September, although by the summer Home Media Expo in Las Vegas, Warner was saying it would likely push back the launch date to early 2008, pending other studio involvement. But with Paramount Home Entertainment last month drop- ping its support for Blu-ray Disc and going exclusively with HD DVD, getting other studios onboard seems unlikely, Sanders said — and Warner doesn’t want to go it alone. “It would be tough to proceed, since we are the last man standing in both formats,” Sanders said. “This only makes sense for studios supporting both formats, and since Paramount went the other way and retail didn’t push the issue, one studio isn’t enough for us to pull the trigger.” The Total HD concept may be revisited in the future, Sanders said, but for now, “it’s on hold.” Sherwood Investments Overseas LTD, which owns 1.35 million shares of Trans World, called Higgins’ offer “grossly inadequate” and called for the company’s board to seek competing offers, speculating an auction of the company would translate into more than $8 a share. “Let us remind you that just last year Trans World paid $78.8 million for 335 Musicland stores from bankruptcy,” a Sherwood Investments letter to Higgins read. “That deal equated to $235,000 per bankrupt store, and now you are proposing to pay $161,000 per store for all the stores.” Trans World saw total sales decline nearly 12%, to $260.6 million, for the third quarter (ended Nov. 3), compared to sales of $297.7 million during the same period last year, partly due to the company operating 13% fewer stores. Higgins noted that in-store music sales were the biggest culprit. “We continued to achieve positive comparable-store sales in home video, video games, electronics and boutique during the third quarter. However these results did not offset the decline in music,” Higgins said during the conference call. Trans World operates 963 stores across the United States and its territories, primarily under the F.Y.E. and Suncoast brands, and online at www.wherehouse.com, www.secondspin.com and www.samgoody. com. L A T E FL A SH ES I POTTER GETS CONNECTED Warner Home Video will debut a new twist on HD DVD’s Internet interactivity Dec. 11 with the HD DVD release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. According to the HD DVD North American Promotional Group’s Web site, a “Live Community Screening” option allows people to watch the film on HD DVD simultaneously from Internet-accessed players. The person hosting the viewing can pause and control how the movie is viewed. A live chat feature is included. A report from DisplaySearch pegged Sharp as having the No. 1 spot, with 11.3% market share, Vizio next (10.9% share), and Samsung (10.7%) as No. 3. However, a report from iSuppli Corp. ranks Vizio as No. 1 (13% share), followed by Samsung (12.8%) and Sharp (12.0%). Scoring Big on DVD I VIRGIN, B&T LAUNCH SITE Virgin Megastores has launched its new Web site, www.virginmega.com, with hosting and fulfillment responsibilities being handled by Baker & Taylor, which helped develop the site. The site breaks products into separate “boutiques,” and also offers blogs, streaming video, news, an event calendar and company information. — Chris Tribbey I WHO’S NO. 1? 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s Steve Feldstein (center) is flanked by writers and executive producers David X. Cohen and Matt Groening at the premiere of Fox’s Futurama: Bender’s Big Score at the Cinerama Dome Nov. 15 in Los Angeles. Photo by: Chris Polk, Wire Image Two research firms have conflicting reports on which LCD TV manufacturer was No. 1 in the United States in Q3 this year. HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE (ISSN 1934-9882) is published 51 times per year (weekly except 3 issues in December) 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 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. HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE does not verify any claims or other information appearing in any of the advertisements contained in the publication, and cannot take any responsibility for any losses or other damages incurred by readers in reliance on such content HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE welcomes unsolicited articles, manuscripts, photographs, illustrations and other materials but cannot be held responsible for their safekeeping or return. Questex Media Group, Inc. provides certain customer contact data (such as customers’ names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses) to third parties who wish to promote relevant products, services and other opportunities which may be of interest to you. If you do not want Questex Media Group to make your contact information available to third parties for marketing purposes, simply call toll-free 86 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.secondspin.com http://www.wherehouse.com http://www.secondspin.com http://www.samgoody.com http://www.samgoody.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - November 25-December 1, 2007

Contents News TV DVD Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - November 25-December 1, 2007

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.