Home Media Magazine - December 2-8, 2007 - (Page 1) DECEMBER 2–8, 2007 >> HIGH-D EF H IG H-DE F MAR KET S HAR E Blu-ray and HD DVD Sales Comparison as of 11/25/07 Week Ended 11/25 Year-to-Date INSIDE I Blu-ray I HD DVD Since Inception 28% 72% 65% 35% 62% 38% Source: Nielsen VideoScan: First Alert data No Holiday Truce BRINGING DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT TO YOU HD DVD and Blu-ray push the format war into the busy shopping season. VMD in USA The third HD format, Versatile Multilayer Disc, comes to America. PAGE 16 Blockbuster Move ‘Validates’ Kiosks By testing rental kiosks, No. 1 rental chain boosts biz By Chris Tribbey RETAIL Chuck Berger, CEO and president of DVD rental kiosk operator DVDPlay, wasn’t disappointed to hear that Blockbuster Inc. might start throwing its weight around in the kiosk market. Far from it. “I’m actually excited by this in a number of ways,” he said. “It means kiosks are going to be a big part of the marketplace in the coming years. It validates the industry.” As it did Netflix for by-mail rentals, Blockbuster is following the lead of kiosk operators DVDPlay (1,300 kiosks), Redbox (6,000 kiosks) and TNR Entertainment (2,000), giving movie rental kiosks a trial run at Family Dollar and Papa John’s pizza stores. Movie Gallery, before it declared bankruptcy, was testing its own line of DVD rental kiosks under the Hollywood Video label. The com- 4 TH QUARTER UNWRAPPED pany had plans for nearly 300 of the kiosks in supermarkets and malls, but the initiative is up in the air due to its financial troubles. Blockbuster’s move, however, gives the concept another push. “It sure makes me feel a lot better See BLOCKBUSTER, Page 36 Holiday weekend proves to be a big one for the industry By Thomas K. Arnold tudio executives’ hopes for a late-blooming fourth quarter received a big boost when Thanksgiving-week DVD sales took a sudden and significant upturn. Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales data reports the number of DVD units that sold through to consumers was up a whopping 175% from the previous week and up 6% from the 2006 Thanksgiving week. VideoScan data includes point-ofsale purchase data from such key national chains as Best Buy, Target and Circuit City, but not Wal-Mart, which generally represents about 40% of the DVD sales market. See DVD SALES, Page 14 Give Thanks S DVD SUPPLIERS ANALYSTS: BLOCKBUSTER CEO ON TRACK DESPITE RECENT STOCK DECLINE By Erik Gruenwedel B lockbuster Inc. CEO Jim Keyes’ whirlwind strategies to re-assess Total Access, secure distribution with mobile phone manufacturers, establish rental kiosks, simplify pricing schemes, boost inventory and even add stores resulted in a 25% drop in share prices after Nov. 8. See ANALYSTS, Page 36 >> ELEC TRONIC DELIVERY Online Honors INSIDE Holiday Weekend Sales Extend Online By John Latchem RETAIL Hoping to get a jump on what many analysts predict will be a sluggish holiday season, several chains opened their doors early with in-store and online deals on Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving Day early openings in the past have been limited to discount chains and See the winners for TV Guide’s first Online Video Awards, representing the best content created specifically for the Web. Lennon Plays Starbucks The ubiquitous coffee house offers the John Lennon Video Album on the iTunes Digital Release card format. PAGE 18 grocery stores. According to The Associated Press, CompUSA offered pumpkin pie to those waiting in line the night before Black Friday, and shoppers at a Kmart in North Carolina were handed coffee and doughnuts before clearing shelves of HDTVs and video game systems. Many retailers steered consumers toward their Web sites, with bargains that continued even beyond Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving that is traditionally considered the busiest online shopping day of the year. Several online sellers, including See HOLIDAY, Page 34 NEWS New Line Cinema sues over Koch Entertainment’s Beyond the Golden Compass documentary DVD. RESEARCH Live Free or Die Hard proved even the fourth time’s the charm, taking the top spot on the sales and rental charts. PRODUCT Warner Home Video offers gangster classic Bonnie and Clyde on two new DVD editions, plus HD DVD and Blu-ray. Page 10 Page 30 Page 34
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