Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - (Page 8) IN ear REVIEW The PlayStation 3 helped boost Blu-ray adoption in 2008. By Erik Gruenwedel and Chris Tribbey F rom the end of the format war between Toshiba’s HD DVD and Sony’s Blu-ray Disc, to the unexpected stagnation of digital distribution and a free-falling economy in the fourth quarter, home entertainment emerges relatively unscathed in 2008. A strong summer box office and Blu-ray Disc’s debutante glow underscores increased consumer acceptance of the highdefinition format and portends greater market share in 2009. JANUARY » Online DVD rental pioneer Netflix says it will offer movies and related content directly to televisions via third-party set-top boxes, starting with a Blu-ray player manufactured by LG Electronics. » The nascent market for Hollywood movie downloads from the Web takes another hit when Wal-Mart confirms it ceased operations of its video-download site in December. » Paramount and DreamWorks’ Transformers and Universal’s Knocked Up rank as the top two most-popular illegally downloaded movies of 2007, each with more than 500,000 downloads. » Consumers spent $23.7 billion renting and buying home entertainment content in 2007 — 2% less than in 2006, according to DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group. DVD retail generated $16 billion, down from $16.6 billion. Rental remained flat at $7.5 billion and Blu-ray generated $300 million in revenue. » New Line Home Entertainment and HBO Video confirm they are following distributor Warner Home Video’s lead and abandoning HD DVD and releasing all future next-generation titles only on Blu-ray. » Apple iTunes’ online movie and TV show rental service launches with much fanfare at the Macworld confab in San Francisco. » The writers strike portends to be a boon for DVD and video games with 27% of survey respondents spending less time watching network programming and 12% watching fewer cable and satellite content, according to new media consulting firm Interpret LLC. » More than a week after being dealt a mortal blow by the defection of Warner Home Video to the Blu-ray camp, HD DVD developer Toshiba Corp. says it intends to step up marketing and slash player prices by as much as 50%. » Netflix ups profit, revenue and subscribers in the fourth quarter. CEO Reed Hastings says the service is pulling away from rival Blockbuster Online, which he says will result in a significant decline in future ad spending. » Toshiba confirms it will feature HD DVD in a 30-second Super Bowl XLII television spot during the Feb. 3 national telecast. 20 08 www.homemediamagazine.com » Directors, studios and network TV producers reach a tentative collective bargaining agreement that leaves the dated home video residual rate unchanged. FEBRUARY » The PlayStation 3 game console, the No. 1 selling Blu-ray player globally, helps contribute to a more than 31% jump in sales for Sony’s gaming segment, compared to last year, Sony Corp. reports. » Image Entertainment’s protracted merger with BTP Acquisition Co. LLC appears to have veered off a cliff, with both sides accusing the other of breaching the agreement. » DVD rental kiosk operator Redbox says it rented its 100 millionth DVD, due in part to 6,700 locations nationwide and a user base approaching 13 million. » Movie Gallery’s path toward exiting Chapter 11 receives a boost when a bankruptcy judge grants the video chain a four-month extension to June 13 to formally file a plan of reorganization. » Cable operators Cablevision and Comcast expand their slates of new movies available via video-on-demand (VOD) the same day as the DVD release. » Image Entertainment officially terminates its merger deal with BTP Acquisition and demands “prompt payment” of a $4.2 million business interruption fee, according to a regulatory filing. » Redbox expands DVD rental service to about 3,500 Wal-Mart locations. » Warner Bros. studio celebrates its 85th birthday with the DVD debut of 50 restored movie classics. » Movie Gallery says it will shutter 4,000 underperforming stores. » Netflix hints it will charge a premium for both HD DVD and Blu-ray rentals. » Amazon says its European DVD rental service, which primarily services consumers in the United Kingdom and Germany, was acquired by Lovefilm, Europe’s largest online DVD rental service. » The Writers Guild ends its strike, and gets a bigger bite of new media but not DVD. » Best Buy and Netflix stop carrying HD DVD and begin marketing exclusively Blu-ray and DVD. » Lionsgate projects record 2008 DVD sales, up 6% from 2007. » The NPD Group says less than 10% of 6,000 respondents to a consumer survey indicate a willingness to purchase a Blu-ray or HD DVD player in the next six months. » The high-definition format war officially ends as Toshiba pulls the plug on HD DVD and Universal and Paramount switch to Bluray. » Genius Products says it is looking beyond DVD to grow digital distribution and expand into licensing, video games and music, among other genres. MARCH » Time Warner pulls the plug on New Line Cinema, including New Line Home Entertainment, and folds New Line’s packaged-media distribution into Warner Home Video. » Redbox expands DVD rental into 2,000 Walgreens locations. » Netflix’s CFO claims Blockbuster’s online DVD rental service is “treading water.” » DreamWorks Animation reports its bestever fiscal year despite a cautious tone regarding DVD. » Sony Corp. bows a line of second-generation Profile 1.1 Blu-ray players priced from $400. » Across-the-board cuts that include a 10% reduction in company-owned stores result in Blockbuster posting fourth-quarter income of $38.1 million, including the first positive same-store comps for the No. 1 DVD rental service in years. » Digital video recording pioneer TiVo forges an agreement with Google subsidiary YouTube that allows select TiVo subscribers to view content from the video-sharing site. » Microsoft, a supporter of HD DVD, says it will support Blu-ray in “ways that make sense,” according to CEO Steve Ballmer. » Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes says a decline in foreign margins contributed to the demise of New Line. » Sony’s PS3 console, which features a Blu-ray drive, says it will offer a firmware upgrade for BD Live that allows for connectivity to the Internet. » Missed guidance and a $12.2 million loss send Genius Products’ stock tumbling 70%; the distributor inks a deal with digital distributors. » Major studio releases from Walt Disney Blu-ray Disc wins the highdefinition format war in 2008 over HD DVD. 8 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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