Home Media Magazine - December 28, 2008 - (Page hghd4) Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist THEY SAID IT FIFTH-QUARTER FRENZY Home Entertainment Eyes ‘Blu’ Holidays and ‘Fifth Quarter’ By Erik Gruenwedel ntering the final weeks of the fourth quarter and holiday shopping season, home entertainment and consumer electronics manufacturers said Black Friday deals on Blu-ray players and movies helped create a buzz about the high-definition format that is expected to remain strong into the new year. New York-based research firm The NPD Group said heavy industry promotion and southward-moving prices did wonders for Blu-ray during the week of Black Friday, generating 147,000 unit sales and $30.3 million in revenue. Blu-ray movie sales in October generated 2.3 million units sold, nearly five times as many as during the same month last year, said Andy Parsons, SVP of advanced product development for Pioneer Electronics and chair of the Blu-ray Disc Association’s promotions committee. “With many BD player models now selling for under $200, the technology is more accessible to a broader base of consumers, suggesting we’re nearing the end of the early adopter phase and entering a much larger mass market phase,” Parsons said. “Blu-ray’s higher profile in many national retailer displays certainly seems to illustrate this and awareness is growing fast.” David Bishop, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, said Hancock sold the majority of its 300,000 Blu-ray units through the first six days of release on the Black Friday weekend. E “We were really encouraged with what we saw,” Bishop said. He said many key retailers actually sold out of Blu-ray players, which he said was a sign that it is one of the four or five hot consumer electronics items in the marketplace. Sony plans to bow BD titles in January that “bleed into” the PlayStation 3 demographic (i.e. video game enthusiasts), including Pineapple Express, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist (with Michael Cera) and the direct-to-video animated sequel Open Season 2. “[January] is also traditionally a good month because you get people back into stores with gift cards,” Bishop said. Tom Adams with Adams Media Research said the fifth quarter would be good for Bluray as top-shelf Profile 2.0 player prices dip as low as $250. He said he’d heard of at least one Blu-ray hardware supplier who was fielding reorder requests from retailers. Indeed, through Dec. 14, Costco offered an instant $80 rebate on the $279 Panasonic DMP-BD35AK model, which is BD Live capable (with firmware upgrade) and included free Disney titles (via mailin) The Nightmare Before Christmas and Ratatouille. At a Costco location in Irvine, Calif., one businessman loaded his cart with 10 Panasonic players he said he intended to give away to employees at a Christmas party. This led to a tug-of-war between several customers over the remaining two Continued on page 8 » «ALL OF THE STUDIOS HAVE NOT ONLY MENTIONED BLU-RAY AND DVD IN THEIR MAIN ADS, BUT THEY ARE ALSO MAKING ADS SPECIFIC TO BLU-RAY. THAT WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARD DRIVING CONSUMER ACCEPTANCE.» DAVID BISHOP, PRESIDENT, SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT «BLU-RAY HAS REALLY INCREASED, IN TERMS OF PURCHASE INTENT. WE’RE FULLY BULLISH IN OUR EXPECTATIONS GOING FORWARD, AND WE’RE THRILLED WITH WHERE WE ARE. WE’VE GOT A NUMBER OF GREAT YEARS AHEAD OF US, AND BLU-RAY HAS A LOT TO DO WITH IT.» JOHN KOLLER, HARDWARE MARKETING DIRECTOR, SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT 4 HOLLYWOOD goes HIGH-DEF Winter 2008/2009
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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