Home Media Magazine - March 9, 2009 - (Page 20) NEWS Movie Gallery CEO Out By Erik Gruenwedel ovie Gallery CEO C.J. “Gabe” Gabriel left the company March 2, less than a year after being named to the position, according to Sherif Mityas, COO and president of retail opera- www.homemediamagazine.com Roku Links With Amazon VOD Continued from page 1 $1.99 and downloads from $5.99. “Consumers are looking for inexpensive ways to watch their favorite movies and TV shows, and the Roku player meets that head-on,” said Roy Price, director of Amazon VOD. Saratoga, Calif.-based Roku broke into the streaming business last year when it unveiled a partnership with online DVD rental pioneer Netflix. The box, which requires a broadband connection, proved such a hit with Netflix subscribers and analysts, Roku temporarily put the devices on backorder. In that deal, Netflix subscribers who purchased a Roku device had access to about 12,000 titles for free streaming (depending on their plans) to their televisions. M tions, who assumes control of dayto-day operations. Gabriel, a former Albertsons supermarket executive, left the Wilsonville, Ore.-based No. 2 DVD rental service and parent of Hollywood Video for undisclosed reasons. Netflix has said that it welcomes Roku branching out the device to third-party content sources. In a recent financial call, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said dissemination of the Roku box would introduce the DVD-bymail service to a wider audience. The Roku video player is available at Roku.com or Amazon.com. AMAZON LAUNCHES USED GAME TRADE-INS By Chris Tribbey Cable’s Pricey Subs Falling Continued from page 1 operator worried about seeing their services cut out of customers’ budgets during this recession. Comcast reported losing almost half a million net subscribers during the fourth quarter. Charter Communications reported losing a net of about 75,000 basic-cable subscribers during the same period. Dish Network reported losing 102,000 net subscribers in the fourth quarter, and Cablevision about 4,000. “The weak economy is impacting the consumer particularly on housing growth, vacancies and moves, providing us with fewer opportunities to sell new services,” said Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis, in a conference call with investors. The companies that are doing well are dealing in digital. DirecTV and Verizon each added more than 300,000 subscribers during the fourth quarter, with AT&T adding more than 260,000. Cable companies offering digital reported positive gains for their digital services. But cable operators’ bread-andbutter basic services are losing customers, as more and more consumers turn to free online video. “Cable operators are working aggressively to neutralize the growing threat of online video and the inevitable erosion of traditional pay-TV viewership,” said Michael Greeson, president of research firm The Diffusion Group (TDG). “Making their best content available for online viewing through their own branded portals instead of online aggregators such as Hulu is the right strategy at the right time.” TDG research finds that 43% of broadband customers want to watch their TV service online, and they’re willing to pay for it. “Comcast has close to 17 million digital-TV subscribers and 15 million broadband Internet subscribers,” Greeson said. “If 29% of Comcast’s broadband Internet subscribers would spend an extra $10 per month to have their current TV programming delivered to their PCs, that’s an additional $43.5 million in gross revenue each month.” Comcast, Time Warner and others are in talks with programmers such as Viacom and Discovery Communications to provide their content online. But, Reuters reported, most of those services would be free to those already buying cable. Bobby Tulsiani, senior analyst with Forrester Research, said his firm’s findings show that people who already have cable aren’t too likely to get rid of it in the next year, but could cancel their premium channels or DVR, if they need to cut back. He said about 10% of respondents to a Forrester survey said premium services would be a target for cuts. “I’m not trying to say cable is the same thing as water,” he said. “But it is considered a necessary service by some, as it represents a good entertainment value. It’s cheaper than a night on the town, and it’s on all the time.” People are watching cable TV: Both Fox News and MSNBC reported double-digit increases in viewership in February, compared to the same period in 2008, and The Nielsen Co. released statistics this month that during the fourth quarter of 2008, American all-around TV viewing was at an all-time high. But online video viewing is also seeing huge gains, with online research firm comScore reporting that in December, Americans watched a record 14.3 billion Web videos, up 13% from the previous month. While much of what companies such as Time Warner offer isn’t legitimately free online, more and more content people used to pay for is showing up as free, ad-based content. And that worries Britt. “People will choose not to buy subscription video if they can get the same stuff for free,” he said. “In other words, free wins.” mazon.com launched a video game trade-in service March 5, entering the purview of GameStop. Reports were also circulating that Toys “R” Us was testing the used-game business in some of its stores. GameStop did not immediately return a request for comment. “Since this is a beta launch, you can expect two things: Our trade-in store will continue to evolve over time, and we’re interested in your feedback on how we can improve it,” Amazon said in its blog announcing the new service. An Amazon spokesperson said the blog was the only official announcement. The service points Amazon users to a list of games they can trade in and tells users how much the games are worth. After printing out a prepaid shipping label and sending the game in, customers receive credit in their Amazon.com accounts. Amazon.com is also giving an extra 10% off a game or game accessory purchase to those who trade in a game. ZillionTV Plans to Multiply Web TV Content Continued from page 1 Unveiled March 4, ZillionTV consists of a tiny remote and a thin ‘Z’ bar that goes on top of your HDTV, with built-in Ethernet, USB and HDMI ports, and wireless capability. The service — expected to launch in midfourth quarter — will deliver instant, on-demand streaming video with no hard drive. A one-time, yet-to-be-determined (but sub-$100) service activation fee is involved, but there’s no subscription fee, as users either buy to own, rent, or watch a show with ads for free, depending on the content licensing agreement. ZillionTV is partnering with Internet-service providers, and content is already streaming from data centers in Palo Alto, Calif., with more planned in Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington D.C., and smaller ones planned as the service grows. ZillionTV’s national beta trial began in February and runs through the summer. Five of the six major studios — Sony, Warner, Universal, Fox and Disney — are equity holders in ZillionTV and are contributing much of the 15,000 pieces of content the service will have when it is made available to the public in the fourth quarter. ZillionTV already has signed more than 40 individual content agreements. “ZillionTV is on the cutting-edge of on-demand technology and is poised to deliver the promise of personalized television,” said Dan Cohen, EVP of pay television and interactive media for Disney-ABC Domestic Television. A 3MB connection is needed, but in a demo, Berman showed a stream of The Dark Knight using half that. With the ZillionTV remote, he entered a pin linked to his credit card (receipts for purchases are sent to the user’s e-mail), used the purchase option for the film, and less than 30 seconds later, a 480p version of the film was up and running. “Try that, Netflix,” Berman said. ZillionTV will have high-def content at 1080i when it launches, but Berman said the goal is to have 1080p available at some point. Content is organized by genre, but Berman showed a number of search options, including by keyword and actor. The service stores a user’s history, and there are standard fast-forward, pause and rewind options. All original aspect ratios are maintained, previews and summaries for content are available and users can rate content. ZillionTV users choose what type of brands they’re interested in — travel, sports, shopping, etc. — when they first sign up, and when they watch ad-supported shows, ads geared toward those interests show up. Every time ads are watched, users collect points toward purchases of their favorite brands. “We reward you for watching television,” Berman said. Fox Differentiating Rental Copies Continued from page 1 The Blu-ray three-disc sellthrough version features the BD edition with special features, the DVD edition with non-BD special features, and a digital copy disc. The rental Blu-ray includes only special features. Additional releases earmarked for rental/sales demarcation include April 7’s The Day the Earth Stood Still, April 21’s The Wrestler and April 28’s Notorious and Bride Wars. In a letter to distributors, Don Jeffries, SVP of sales at Fox, said the separation afforded rental customers a “theatrical experience,” while sellthrough offered a “premium product” that expanded the entertainment experience to further “enhance ownership.” To Bill Burton, president of National Association of Video Distributors, whose members include Alliance Entertainment Corp., Baker & Taylor, Ingram Entertainment and WaxWorks, Fox’s decision only enhanced discord. “Some of the board members have expressed concern with it,” Burton said. “It puts distributors in the position of being the police on this.” Burton said distributors don’t want to be put in the position of deciding which retailer gets what type of title, or ship the wrong title to a retailer. “It’s just bad news,” said a distributor who wished to remain anonymous. The distributor said Fox’s plan would increase the number http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.Roku.com http://www.Amazon.com http://www.Amazon.com http://www.Amazon.com http://www.Amazon.com
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