Home Media Magazine - December 16-22, 2007 - (Page 4)

NEWS SANDY FRIEDMAN JOINS SUMMIT By Chris Tribbey www.homemediamagazine.com Trans World Investor Ups CEO’s Bid, Analyst Not Impressed By Erik Gruenwedel quisition of 335 bankrupt Musicland stores as proof it valued RETAIL A potential bidding war is emerging for control of its stores more than Higgins was willing to pay. Trans World Entertainment Corp., which operates 963 “We are highly confident that an auction of the company stores under the F.Y.E., Suncoast and Second Spin brands. would result in a sale in excess of $8 per share, a considerSherwood Investments Overseas Ltd., which owns more able premium to your current proposal,” Sherwood said. than 1.7 million shares, or 5.48% of Trans World’s common Trans World’s board established a special committee to restock, sent a letter to CEO Robert Higgins view the CEO’s Nov. 7 non-binding offer and a special committee with a $7-per- «WE ARE HIGHLY CONFIDENT and on Nov. 20 agreed to allow Higgins THAT AN AUCTION share cash offer for all outstanding stock. to seek third-party co-investors. OF THE COMPANY The Nov. 29 letter, which was disclosed Sherwood said it will consider increasin a regulatory filing Dec. 10, did not WOULD RESULT IN A SALE IN ing the offer after obtaining additional outline how Sherwood would finance the EXCESS OF $8 PER SHARE.» information during due diligence. SHERWOOD INVESTMENTS acquisition. Analyst Edward Woo, with Wedbush Analysts say challenges in entertainMorgan Securities in Los Angeles, said ment retail, specifically music sales, necessitate a return by Wall Street remains skeptical of Sherwood’s offer due to the Trans World to privately held status, thereby eliminating relative anonymity of the investment group and its means numerous costs associated with being public. of funding an acquisition. Sherwood’s bid is in response to a $5-per-share cash offer “We don’t know if they have hard financing or are just posifrom Higgins and investor Bryant Riley, who want to take tioning for a better [acquisition] offer,” Woo said. “They only Trans World private and together control 55% of the stock. own 5% of [Trans World]. How are they going to overcome In a Nov. 16 letter, Sherwood called the $5 bid “grossly the majority of Higgins and Riley?” inadequate” and cited Trans World’s 2006 $78.8 million acSherwood was not available for comment by press time. BRIEFS I CROCS HAS ‘PIRATES’ SHOES Crocs Inc. is offering “Pirates of the Caribbean”-inspired footwear and free Jibbitz charms to customers who buy the shoes at Crocs-owned kiosks and retail stores. The “Pirates”-themed shoes include such varieties as Disney Pirates Beach and Kids Disney Pirates Caymans, while the Jibbitz charms are additional pieces that can snap onto Crocs shoes. The promotion coincides with the Dec. 4 release of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. – Billy Gil Industry veteran Sandy Friedman has been named EVP of home entertainment operations for Summit Entertainment. He’ll report to Summit home entertainment president Steve Nickerson. “[Friedman’s] knowledge and experience in many facets of the home entertainment business is well respected by our customers,” Nickerson said. Friedman most recently served as VP of content operations for Netflix, and spent the eight years before that as head of DreamWorks Home Entertainment’s worldwide operations. He has also spent time with Warner Bros., Paramount, MGM/UA, Turner and Embassy Home Entertainment. “[Nickerson] has assembled a stellar management team, and I am thrilled to join with them to help launch Summit’s new home entertainment division,” Friedman said. Summit DVDs will be distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. SUPPLIER I GAMESTOP UPS PROFILE GameStop is taking a step up in the ﬁnancial world. The retailer will replace Dow Jones in the S&P 500 Index, likely by the end of the year. Currently GameStop (NYSE: GME) resides in the S&P MidCap 400. GameStop will be replaced there by BE Aerospace Inc. – Chris Tribbey Image Acquisition Delayed to January By Erik Gruenwedel SUPPLIER The closing date for Image Entertainment Inc.’s protracted purchase by BTP Acquisition Co. LLC has been extended to Jan. 14, 2008. Image Dec. 10 said it received a $2 million deposit from BTP that will be held in trust and credited against the purchase price at closing, according to a regulatory filing. Chatsworth, Calif.-based Image had said it wouldn’t entertain additional delays without receiving a $2 million deposit from BTP. I PORCHLIGHT SNAGS DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS PorchLight Home Entertainment is stepping up its game. The Los Angelesbased distributor, which launched in early 2007, has acquired U.S. DVD distribution rights for the “FARMkids” TV series from FARMkids Pty Ltd., seven titles from The Trevor Romain Co. and “The Little Playdates” DVD series from The Little Playdates Co. Titles are expected in 2008. – Billy Gil WARNER ADDS DIGITAL EXECUTIVE By Erik Gruenwedel W arner Bros. Home Entertainment Group’s foray into the digital age took another step with the appointment of Thomas Gewecke to the new position of president of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. Gewecke, formerly EVP of global digital business with Sony BMG Music Entertainment, will be responsible for growing Warner’s worldwide online, wireless, VOD/PPV and electronic sellthrough initiatives. “Thomas is a forward-thinking executive with a proven track record of successful execution,” said Kevin Tsujihara, president, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. The latest extension, again due to financing issues, continues a series of delays regarding the $130 million deal originally announced in March. Film financier and producer David Bergstein spearheads BTP’s bid, which includes $95 million in cash, assumption of a $9 million replication advance from Sonopress LLC and the repayment of about $24 million of Image debt. In addition, Image entered into a multiyear feature film DVD and electronic distribution deal with CT1 Holdings LLC, parent company of ThinkFilm and Capitol Films. The deal also covers existing film libraries controlled by CT1, which is separately affiliated with Bergstein. “While it is taking longer to close this transaction than we had anticipated, we firmly believe it is in the best interests of our stockholders to consummate this transaction,” said Image CEO Martin Greenwald. Image reported a first-quarter (ended Sept. 30) loss of $3.6 million on revenue of $21.6 million. I REPORT: MOST DVR USERS SKIP ADS A survey from ABI Research found that one in four online consumers uses a digital video recorder (DVR). But about 82% are using them to skip ads. TiVo, the primary supplier of DVR, showed nearly identical results to DVR users in general, with nearly four out of ﬁve users skipping commercials. – Billy Gil THE BOX SCORE: HIT FILMS* ON DVD RESULTS FOR 2005 - 2007 With the last minute additions of Universal Studio Home Entertainment’s The Kingdom and Paramount Home Entertainment/DreamWorks’ The Heartbreak Kid to the Dec. 26 new-to-DVD release mix, we can finally close the books on 2007 — at least in terms of hit films ($25 million or more at the domestic box) making their way to DVD. When compared to 2006, the crop for 2007 came up a dozen films short. Part of that was due to the studios jamming in films at the end of 2006 and leaving very little for the beginning of 2007. Collectively, they’ve done a much better job of managing inventories this year, with 11 films already set for Q1 2008 — and more to come. — Ralph Tribbey Hit Film Source Sony Pictures Paramount/DreamWorks Universal Studios Warner Home Video Walt Disney Studios 20th Century Fox New Line Genius Products Lionsgate MGM Combined 2005 13 15 13 18 15 12 5 0 3 3 97 2006 18 18 15 13 12 17 5 3 3 1 105 2007** 16 14 13 12 11 10 7 5 4 1 93 I REPORT: DVR USAGE UP A new study from Palisades MediaGroup cited data from Nielsen Media Research that said DVR household penetration has reached 20%, up from 12% in January. The study found that more than 50% of recorded prime-time programming was viewed the same day it was recorded. Playback has resulted in a 15% increase in ratings from the original “live” broadcast to “live-plus-seven” (LPS) viewing. LPS includes viewing at its original airing plus a week of DVR playback. Without LPS, network ratings would reportedly be down 12% this year. The report found that fewer than 50% of viewers of recorded programming skip the ads. – Erik Gruenwedel SONY UPS LEE By Billy Gil Sony Pictures Entertainment has promoted Audrey Lee to SVP of the distribution legal affairs group. She will oversee legal affairs for distribution of content for domestic pay TV, non-European international television, digital, the Web, mobile and home entertainment. Lee has been with Sony Pictures since 2001, serving as a senior counsel and moving up to assistant general counsel in 2004, handling legal affairs such as negotiating distribution deals as well as Blu-ray Disc agreements with retailers. * Hit films are defined as those with a box office gross of at least $25 million ** Results for 2007 include DVDs announced but not yet released through the end of the year I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR DVD Titles in Release Through Week Ended Dec. 7, 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total Net DVD Titles Announced and/or In Release Through March 31, 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80,005+310 80,473+236 355 Scheduled 46 I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR BLU-RAY As of Week Ended Dec. 7 . . . . . .Released I THIS WEEK’S RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR HD DVD Scheduled As of Week Ended Dec. 7 . . . . . .Released Home Media Magazine December 16–22, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com

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Home Media Magazine - December 16-22, 2007 Contents News Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - December 16-22, 2007

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