Home Media Magazine - February 16-22, 2009 - (Page 7) www.homemediamagazine.com MENU FROM THE EDITOR BY THOMAS K. ARNOLD, PUBLISHER www.homemediamagazine.com PUBLISHER & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Thomas K. Arnold S tarnold@questex.com EDITOR IN CHIEF Stephanie Prange S sprange@questex.com EDITORIAL Managing Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Angelique Flores aflores@questex.com Senior Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erik Gruenwedel egruenwedel@questex.com Senior Reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Tribbey ctribbey@questex.com Assistant Managing Editor. . . . . . . . . . . John Latchem jlatchem@questex.com Associate Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . Billy Gil, Kyra Kudick bgil@questex.com S kkudick@questex.com Intern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erika Carmona ART Art Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Melbert Sebayan msebayan@questex.com Graphic Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles Park cpark@questex.com RESEARCH Market Research Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . Kelly Burner kburner@questex.com DIGITAL MEDIA Executive Director . . . . . . . . . . Amy Coronato Osborn acoronato@questex.com S 714/338-6731 Online Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Renee Rosado rrosado@questex.com ADVERTISING 800/338-6700, FAX 714/338-6712 Advertising Sales Representative . . . . John Boezinger jboezinger@questex.com S 714/338-6704 Advertising Sales Representative . . . . . . . Julie Savant jsavant@questex.com S 714/368-1020 Advertising Sales Representative . . . . Kurt Wohlman kwohlman@questex.com 714/338-6749 Business Manager . . . . . Joni Wu S jwu@questex.com Group Administrative Coordinator . . Jennifer Guerena jguerena@questex.com For reprints, call 800-290-5460, ext. 100 or HomeMediaMagazine@reprintbuyer.com For direct-mail lists, call Ilene Schwartz, Kroll Direct, 216/371-1667, FAX 216/371-1669, ilene@krolldirect.com Digital Copy Gives Instant Gratification T he swift move among studios to include a digital copy from the disc sale. In our house, digital copy is fast catching on. The boys and I of the film with virtually every DVD or Blu-ray Disc they release, a practice most recently given a vote of watched The Dark Knight on Blu-ray Disc. Since it was a school confidence by none other than Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger, is night, I turned the movie off at 9 p.m. and sent them off to bed, with the promise that we would resume watching it the next certainly a smart one. As I’ve noted before, it gives packaged media a chance to beat night. Of course I was lying: I gave them about 15 minutes to digital download services at their own game. All of a sudden doze off and then I watched the rest of the film by myself, with the sound turned down. that DVD or Blu-ray Disc becomes a one-stop When I went up to bed, I checked on them. purchase for consumers who want something THE USE RATE OF DIGITAL they can watch both on their expensive home COPIES [IS] SURE TO GROW, No one was asleep: They had finished watching The Dark Knight on Justin’s iPod, and now theater systems and on their iPods. It’s no AT LEAST UNTIL were watching some “SpongeBob” cartoon. longer an either-or proposition; consumers DOWNLOADING HIGHWhat’s a dad supposed to do? can get both in the same package, at the same QUALITY MOVIES BECOMES My hunch is that digital copy, as Iger mainplace, at the same time — and for the same QUICK AND EASY. tains it should, will soon become ubiquitous. price. I also believe the digital copy juggernaut is accomplishing a According to studio sources, the use rate of digital copies ranges much loftier goal: it’s preventing young people from migrat- from 7% to 10%. That’s sure to grow, at least until downloading ing fully to the Web for their entertainment needs. The teen high-quality movies becomes quick and easy. Our society has long had a thing for instant gratification. who ordinarily would download a video onto his iPod, because watching movies on iPods is the cool thing to do, now can We’re suckers for a quickie — and at least for now, discs satisfy grab the digital copy from his dad’s Blu-ray Disc. It’s cheaper, that demand. easier and more convenient, even than iTunes, and the good news for our business is that 100% of the revenue is generated Thomas K. Arnold’s e-mail address is tarnold@questex.com IN THIS ISSUE FEB. 16-22, 2009 / VOL. 31 / NO. 7 Studios up same-day home video and VOD releases; Borders touts an exclusive Twilight boxed set; Circuit City asks for $4.7M for executive retention bonuses. MARKETING Marketing Director. . . . . . . . . . . . Kristina Kronenberg kkronenberg@questex.com S 714/338-6743 Marketing Coordinator . . . . . . . . . . Kaitlyn DeWaard kdewaard@questex.com PRODUCTION Production Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bonnie Ling Production Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jennifer Evans jevans@questex.com S 714/338-6769 OFFICE 714/338-6700, 800/371-6897, FAX 714/338-6710 homemediamagazine@questex.com 201 East Sandpointe Ave., Suite 500 Santa Ana, CA 92707-8716 Chris Tribbey, Senior Reporter 818-788-8616, FAX 818-530-2486 16130 Ventura Blvd. #570 Encino, CA 91436 CREDIT Credit/Collections Director . . . . . . . . . Ron Wright Sr. CIRCULATION For subscriptions, please go online to www.homemediamagazine.com For current single copy, back issues or CD-ROM, call 866/344-1315 or 847/763-9594 for outside the U.S. Audience Development Manager . . . . Debbie Gullian BUSINESS QUESTEX MEDIA GROUP INC. President & CEO: Kerry C. Gumas; Executive Vice President & CFO: Tom Caridi; Executive Vice President: Robert S. Ingraham; Executive Vice President: Tony D’Avino; Executive Vice President, Corporate Development: Claudia Flowers; Executive Vice President: Jon Leibowitz; Vice President, Digital Media: Seth Nichols; Vice President, Human Resources: Diane Evans © 2009 Questex Media Group Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including by photocopy, recording or information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by Questex Media Group, Inc. for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923 phone: 978-750-8400 fax 978-750-4470; call for copying beyond that permitted by Sections 107 or 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law. For those not registered with the CCC, send permission request in writing to questexpermissions@reprintbuyer.com or call 800-494-9051 ext. 100. ON THE WEB News …………………………… 8 9 >> HIGH- DEF News …………………………… I GET OUR DAILY NEWSLETTER Our daily newsletter features the top five home entertainment news stories of the day, plus links to our columns, reviews and more. It’s the easiest way to stay updated on the industry, with only the essential information sent your way. To get our daily newsletter, visit homemediamagazine.com/ daily. Game supply chain confab offers tips for efficiency; SAG and the studios to meet again Feb. 17; Macrovision posts a loss. News ………………………… Analysts sound off on Blu-ray; HDMI is growing beyond the HDTV; MGM gets “Stargate” fans to design cover art. >> EL ECTRONIC D EL IV ERY “Caprica” WWW.HOMEMEDIAMAGAZINE.COM TV DVD ………………………… 12 The “Battlestar Galactica” prequel series “Caprica” will debut its first episode on DVD, months before the show goes on air; “True Blood” seeps onto DVD. CALENDAR I PEVE DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT For the second year, Europe’s longest-running home video conference teams with global media analysts Screen Digest to address key issues facing the global home entertainment industry. KidVid/Easter ………………… 14 Studios plan out titles for the Easter holiday as well as children’s titles. Reviews ………………………… 18 News ………………………… March 12-13 Cité Internationale Universitaire in Paris Info: www.peve.screendigest.com Does King Kong roar on Blu-ray? Does Quarantine succeed at making us feel trapped? Is Chris & Don: A Love Story a realistic portrayal of a gay relationship? Top 20 Sellers …………………………… Vudu cuts its Web movie player price in half; DirecTV posts a modest loss; VuNow opens to original equipment manufacturers. I DRIVING DIGITAL CONTENT Futuresource Consulting presents a two-day conference on the business opportunities presented by the digital world. Topics covered will include connecting to the TV and BD Live. June 4-5 The Cumberland, London Info: www.futuresource-consulting.com/ddc09/ Research ……………………… 21 21 Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts ……… 21 Printed in the U.S.A. Paramount rides the sales of its Blu-ray Disc and Just Announced ……………… DVD two-pack of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa to the Studios throw a bone to retailers with dog-themed top of the sales chart, while Sony Pictures’ Lakeview DVDs, with announcements for Fox’s Marley & Me, Terrace remained the top rental. and Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Bolt. February 16–22, 2009 Home Media Magazine http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com/daily http://www.homemediamagazine.com/daily http://WWW.HOMEMEDIAMAGAZINE.COM http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.peve.screendigest.com
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