Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - (Page 12) IN ear REVIEW 20 08 Iron Man www.homemediamagazine.com versal titles Redbox could stock. The suit claims the terms violate antitrust laws and misuse copyrights. Redbox continues stocking Universal titles, buying outside of its normal distributors, Ingram Entertainment and Video Product Distributors. » President Bush signs the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act, which beefs up enforcement on pirated movies, increases fines in civil counterfeit judgments and provides for more oversight in piracy prosecutions. Backed by both the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America, it creates a federal coordinator to oversee American intellectual property issues. » Best Buy begins offering its proprietary Insignia brand Blu-ray player for $199 on Oct. 20, 40% off the SRP and believed to be the first sub$200 Blu-ray player available at retail. While $200 has been put forth by industry observers as a key price for mainstream Blu-ray adoption, some analysts warn that it wouldn’t be economically advantageous for player prices to go too low too fast. and Wal-Mart on a list of failed movie downloading efforts. » Comcast and MGM launch a VOD service named Impact, announcing as many as 30 movies a month on the service. » Paramount unveils the initial production and release slate for its direct-to-video unit, Paramount Famous Productions. » MGM denies media reports that it was on the selling block for $5.2 billion. » Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment boosts Blu-ray by announcing it will open its vault and release five of its Platinum Collection titles — Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 and Beauty and the Beast — on the format. nology that potentially allows for legally copied commercial DVDs, keeping CSS encryption intact. The RealDVD software is set to go on sale online Sept. 30 for $29.99. » Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils the latest edition of iTunes, which includes high-def TV programming for $2.99 an episode. Jobs also confirms that after a one-year hiatus, NBC primetime shows would be returning to the service. » In an apparent industry first, Paramount Home Entertainment says it will bundle a direct-to-video companion film with the home video release of Kung Fu Panda. The studio also settles on a Sunday, Nov. 9 street date instead of a traditional Tuesday. » Best Buy announces it will buy music download pioneer Napster for $121 million, in an attempt to compete with Apple’s iTunes dominance » RealNetworks develops new tech- of the digital music world. The Fed- SEPTEMBER a countersuit on behalf of the studios, seeking a temporary injunction eral Trade Commission soon ap- to prevent the sale of the software. proves the acquisition. The injunction is upheld. » Toshiba, MOD Systems and NCR Corp. band together to develop selfservice digital delivery kiosks where content can be digitally downloaded » Marking a greater emphasis on to Secure Digital cards, instead of new media, HBO Video changes optical discs. its name to HBO Home Entertain» Circuit City reports losses much ment. HBO recently had entered larger than expected for its second into a deal with iTunes and had quarter, with $239 million in losses started a burn-on-demand service during the three-month period (end- for its documentary titles. ing Aug. 31). The news sends the » Replicator Technicolor establishes retailer’s stock plummeting 25% to Oct. 1 the nation’s first Blu-ray Disc just more than $1. testing center, backed by the Blu-ray » Rental kiosk operator DVDPlay Disc Association. announces it will lower its rental » Peace Arch Home Entertainment price to $1 a day, matching the price becomes one of the first indepenof competitor Redbox. dents to follow the major studios’ » RealNetworks files a preemptive lead, announcing it will offer a digifederal lawsuit against the major tal copy on the Nov. 4 release of studios and the DVD Copy Control What We Do Is Secret. Association, seeking to have its com- » Netflix announces it has reached mercial DVD-copying software ap- an agreement with Starz Entertainproved. Shortly after, the MPAA files ment to stream Starz content on Netflix’s new streaming service, bringing the total number of offerings to about 12,000. » The split between Paramount and DreamWorks is finalized, clearing the way for DreamWorks to work out a financial arrangement with new partner Reliance Big Entertainment of India. DreamWorks taps Universal Studios as its distribution partner in a seven-year deal. » Paramount’s Iron Man (street date Sept. 30) sells 7.2 million DVDs during its first week, and more than 500,000 Blu-rays, the strongest first-week sales of any new release to this point in 2008. Its one-day sales of 260,000 Blu-ray units marks a single-day record, and helps the format to sales records. » Netflix begins charging its subscribers an extra $1 a month for unlimited Blu-ray rentals, though CEO Reed Hastings says Blu-ray accounts for less than 5% of the company’s revenue. Subscribers who don’t want to rent Blu-rays must opt out of the charge. » Warner attempts to head off piracy in South Korea by bowing films online two weeks before the DVD street dates, making it the first studio to attempt such a measure. A month later Warner works out a deal in China to stream new movies for 60 cents to a dollar, also to prevent piracy. » Rental kiosk operator Redbox sues Universal Studios Home Entertainment over the studio’s proposed revenue-sharing terms, which would prohibit Redbox from renting Universal titles for 45 days after street date, require Redbox to destroy used Universal titles instead of selling them, and limit the number of Uni- OCTOBER Circuit City reports losses and closes more than 100 stores in 2008. NOVEMBER » The DEG spearheads a $25 million TV, online and theatrical Blu-ray marketing effort, beginning with 30-second commercials during Nov. 2 Fox NFL broadcasts. Primetime ABC, NBC and Fox shows also feature the ads, which are aimed at HDTV owners ages 25 to 44. » Despite better-than-expected second-quarter fiscal results — thanks to excellent home entertainment sales — mini-major Lionsgate releases 17 employees, 8% of its workforce, and eliminates 24 vacant positions. » An underperforming release slate and the economic downturn result in The Weinstein Co. letting go of 24 employees, or 11% of its workforce. The cuts are made company-wide, with losses in offices in Los Angeles, New York, London and Hong Kong. » Blockbuster enters the VOD set-top box game, with chairman and CEO 12 Home Media Magazine December 28, 2008–January 4, 2009 http://www.homemediamagazine.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 Contents News Gay & Lesbian Reviews TV DVD Pipeline Just Announced Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Contents (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Contents (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Contents (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - News (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - News (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - News (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - News (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - News (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - News (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Gay & Lesbian (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Gay & Lesbian (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Reviews (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Reviews (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover4) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Tab1) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Tab2) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd1) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd2) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd3) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd4) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd5) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd6) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd7) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd8) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd9) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd10) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd11) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd12) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd13) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd14) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd15) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd16) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd17) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd18) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd19) Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - Hollywood Goes High Def Supplement (Page hghd20)
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