Home Media Magazine - March 16-22, 2009 - (Page 1) MARCH 16–22, 2009 >> HIGH-DEF INSIDE Panasonic Connects Panasonic unveils a new line of BD Live enabled Blu-ray players. ‘Code’ Blu Panasonic DMP-BD70V An extended cut of The Da Vinci Code heads to Blu-ray Disc. DTV Coupons Arrive Coupons for the digital TV transition will in homes arrive in the coming weeks. w w w.HomeMediaMaga zine.c om PAGE 8 New M dels STUDIOS STREAMLINE, ALTER DIRECTION IN HARDER TIMES By Erik Gruenwedel hile 2009 Hollywood box office revenue screams blockbuster, studios are in the midst of internal hand-wringing befitting The Grapes of Wrath. B U S IN ES S IN The culprit: Withering analyst and consumer confidence News Analysis — the latter resulting in reduced This is one in a series of articles on spending on DVD and Blu-ray the new packaged-media paradigm. Disc due to the economy. To the studios, the halcyon cash cow days of packaged media are looking more numbered, replaced by anxiety and doubt. Indeed, while the theatrical industry crows about a possible first-ever $10 billion box office year (revenue and attendance were up 16% and 14%, respectively, through March 8), consumer spending on DVD and Blu-ray Disc sales and rentals, combined, fell to $22.4 billion in 2008 — a 5.5% drop from $23.7 billion in See STUDIOS, Page 24 GameFly Is Testing The Kiosk Waters By Chris Tribbey GAMES Another player has joined the burgeoning entertainment kiosk market: GameFly. The online video game rental company is quietly testing video game rental kiosks at university campuses, with games available for Nintendo’s Wii, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360. “Currently the GameFly G-Box is a pilot program that we are testing out on select college campuses,” said GameFly spokeswoman Lindsay Strull. “We have no set future plans for the program until we know how the pilot performs.” Todd Greenwald, a video game analyst at Signal Hill, said the GameFly tests are intriguing because of the low per-day rental price ($2.50 for an Xbox W THE NEW ECONOMY INSIDE I Sony slashes staff. Page 24 360 or PS3 game; $2 for a Wii game). “From the gamer’s perspective, it’s a pretty good deal, compared to the $8 to $10 they would spend to rent it for a week from Blockbuster, or the $50 at retail,” he said. “Publishers won’t be happy about it. They probably won’t see a dime of that money.” Anita Frazier, a video game analyst with The NPD Group, said GameFly’s kiosk trial was a logical step for the industry. “Gaming as a form of entertainment has broadened considerably in recent years, so it makes sense that making it easier and more convenient to reach people where they might otherwise shop would pay benefits in reaching the more mass market oriented audience,” she said. >> ELECTRONIC DELIVERY INSIDE >> Unified Standards IPTV, VOD and digital adopting format standards. >> Recession Hits E-Delivery Web, VOD and mobile delivery take a hit. PAGE 9 INSIDE Home A R C H Media RESE $500 $400 $300 $200 TOTAL PACKAGED-MEDIA SALES REVENUE* $134.84 million Down 14.08% from the same week the previous year. By Erik Gruenwedel he PlayStation Network has added Universal Studios films and NBC television shows to its online viewing lineup. Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) has inked a deal with NBC Universal that lets owners of PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable video game systems download and stream movies and T TV programming in standard- and high-definition quality. Beginning March 10 movie downloads of comedy Role Models and Oscar-winner Milk became available the same day as the Bluray Disc and DVD releases. Other titles from Universal Pictures and Focus Features include Wanted, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Death See PLAYSTATION, Page 24 In Millions PlayStation Network Scores NBC Universal Content $100 12/21/08 12/28/08 I CURRENT 1/4/09 1/11/09 1/18/09 1/25/09 2/1/09 2/8/09 2/15/09 2/22/09 3/1/09 3/8/09 I ONE YEAR AGO *DVD and Blu-ray Disc Source: Home Media Research DVD REVENUE: Week ended 3/8/09: $124.23 million Down 17.54% from the same week last year. BLU-RAY DISC REVENUE: Week ended 3/8/09: $10.61 million Up 69.04% from the same week last year. NEW-RELEASE BOX OFFICE POWER Week ended 3/8/09: $146.86 million. Up 118.69% from the same week last year. 10% 90% NEW-RELEASE BOX OFFICE POWER Week ending 3/22/09: $316.44 million. Down 29.41% from the same week last year. NEWS After 60 years in business, Circuit City closes its doors — with $1.7 billion left in product, including more than $50 billion in DVDs. PRODUCT Two raven-haired actresses — Thora Birch and Twilight’s Kristen Stewart — talk new projects coming to DVD. RESEARCH Disney dog comedy Beverly Hills Chihuahua is the top seller, while Fox drama Australia tops rentals. Page 6 Page 14 Page 18 http://www.HomeMediaMagazine.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.