Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - (Page 32) NEWS DEG Campaign Targets HDTV Enthusiasts Continued from page 1 www.homemediamagazine.com Bonus View (picture-in-picture) and Web-based BD Live interactivity. U.S. consumers are projected to buy nearly 2.4 million standalone Blu-ray Disc players this year, three times the number sold in 2007, according to DisplaySearch. That would bring the total domestic installed base to more than 8 million. On the software end, Home Media Magazine’s market research department estimates consumer spending on Blu-ray Discs was up 319.2% in the first nine months of 2008, to $315 million — more than the spending tally for all of 2007. “[Blu-ray] is unrivaled by any other delivery system and therefore becomes essential to accompany any HDTV,” said Bob Chapek, chairman, DEG, and president Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. Disney is one of several major studios behind the Tru Blu campaign. Support also is coming from Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video, as well as leading consumer electronics manufacturers Panasonic and Sony Electronics. The campaign primarily targets consumers between the ages of 25 and 44 who are HDTV owners or intend to purchase an HDTV and is designed to drive aware- ness and retail sales during the critical November and December holiday shopping season. The program also has a significant educational component at retail, with a full package of in-store support elements designed to reinforce the campaign’s message and help customers navigate the purchasing decision process. The marketing initiative also features a comprehensive online component targeting tech-savvy entertainment enthusiasts and gamers with spots on high-traffic Web sites such as maxim.com, gamespot.com, espn.com and msn.com. The ads also are running in theaters nationwide during the upcoming high-traffic season. ‘Toots’ Served on DVD (L-R): IndiePix Films president Bob Alexander, filmmaker (and Toots Shor’s granddaughter) Kristi Jacobson, pro football Hall of Famer Frank Gifford, Foley’s NY owner Shaun Clancy and former Toots waiter John Clancy celebrate the Nov. 18 DVD release of Toots with a “Toots Shor Day” at Foley’s N.Y. Pub & Restaurant Oct. 21. Blockbuster to Bow VOD Box Continued from page 1 Warner Streaming in China to Stop Piracy Continued from page 1 Available titles will include I Am Legend, Fool’s Gold and Speed Racer, among others. Each will offer a choice of either the original English soundtrack with subtitles or a highquality Chinese-language dub. In addition to Warner, Voole also secured digital rights from Sony Pictures Television International for a separate online subscription service launching Nov. 12, according to The Los Angeles Times. The strategies are aimed at persuading China’s approximately 253 million Internet users to pay for streams instead of illegally downloading them. The studio said more than 80% of the communist country’s Internet population has viewed online video content in the past six months. There are an estimated 300 Web sites offering video-watching or video-sharing services in China. However, only a tiny fraction of these sites offer feature-length films, and even fewer actually own distribution rights to Hollywood movies. China ranks among the worst offenders in protecting intellectual copyrights such as movie DVDs, books and music. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) says U.S. studios lose more than $2 billion annually to pirated DVDs in the Asia/Pacific region. Reports indicate nearly 90% of all packaged media sold in China (for about $1 in stores and street vendors) is pirated. “We believe that China is a sig- nificant market for us to expand our digital distribution strategy, and this partnership with Voole is an important first step in helping us to reach the broadest audience for our movies,” said Marc Gareton, EVP International, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, said the strategy offered an antidote to Hollywood’s heretofore unsuccessful staunching of revenue lost to copyright infringement. “We believe that we have an opportunity through digital distribution to solve that problem,” Tsujihara told The Los Angeles Times. “Let’s take a crack at creating a real digital market there.” Wal-Mart Trims CD Shelves Continued from page 1 with electronics and movies, the report from Pali Research said. “We believe Wal-Mart is increasing its exposure to consumer electronics, video games and Blu-ray, and reducing floor space devoted to CDs and standard DVDs,” Richard Greenfield, analyst with Pali, said in a note. Greenfield said the chain’s floor space devoted to DVD, including Blu-ray, ranged from up modestly to down slightly. Pali reported that an accelerated rate of sales decline for CDs combined with the slowing of digital unit sales had resulted in Q4 total unit sales declining 11.6%, compared to a 11.3% decline during the prioryear period. Total music sales fell 5% to 7% in the first three quarters of 2008. In an analyst meeting last week, John Fleming, chief marketing officer with WalMart, said electronics would be getting space expansion in stores due to the decline in physical packaged media. “In electronics, where all the digital products are getting space expansions, and some of the physical packaged media (CDs, movies) are coming down dramatically so that we can space the growth categories,” Fleming said. Greenfield said Wal-Mart’s continued exposure to music would be limited to exclusive CD releases such as AC/DC’s Black Ice & No Bull, which included a Web site and sales opportunities for related content such as DVDs, video games and gear. “As packaged media continues to fade, WalMart is focused on acquiring exclusive rights to music content, which enables it to sell multiple products to a consumer at one time, not just an $11.99 CD,” Greenfield wrote. He said Wal-Mart’s scaled-back interest in music coupled with the potential bankruptcy of Circuit City Stores, a top music CD retailer, portends a bleak 2008 holiday season for the music industry. Edward Woo, analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, said consumer demand for physical CDs would continue spiraling downward. “The demise of specialty music stores gives you a good idea that the market is shrinking fast,” he said. increases in sales of games software and hardware. Blockbuster chairman and CEO Jim Keyes said the chain’s ability to overcome a 53% drop in August theatrical box office comps and the public’s growing interest in the presidential campaign underscored the resilience of DVD. He said Blu-ray rentals now account for 2% of the chain’s domestic revenue. Keyes said Blockbuster stores will increase availability of player selections at prices competitive with other CE chains. International same-store revenue decreased 3.4% compared to last year, reflecting a 2.2% decline in samestore rental revenue and a 5% decline in same-store merchandise sales. Total same-store revenue grew 1.9%. “We weathered a third-quarter storm that in hindsight proved to be even a little bit more challenging than we anticipated,” Keyes said. “Key initiatives around merchandise assortment, in-stock availability (at 60% from 25% last year in first week) and expense reduction allowed us to deliver our third consecutive quarter of positive domestic same-store sales.” He said improved offerings resulted in the average net rental rate rising from $2.98 last year to $3.43 this year. The CEO said he remained confident in what is expected to be a difficult fourth quarter due to a flurry of encouraging year-to-date data. Specifically, paying actives per store are up 1.4%; revenue per visit up 15.4%; net paid rental rate up 17%; net total revenue per square foot up 7.6%; gross profit per square foot up 2.4%; same-store rental revenue up 11%; and total same-store revenue up 16%, he said. Keyes said Blockbuster’s DVD-bymail had been intentionally ignored until the chain refined other aspects of its business. “We don’t see it as a dominant growth engine,” he said. Finally, Keyes tempered expectations for the digital-download market, which he said is dominated by cable VOD and estimated to be $1.4 billion today and $2.5 billion by 2011. “Right now we’re mostly interested in understanding consumer response and keeping pace with the emerging technologies available,” he said. Analyst Marla Backer with Soleil Securities Group said she remained positive about Blockbuster and Keyes, especially with the chain’s improved customer service and availability of new releases. “There is still considerable upside opportunity,” she said in a research note. Separately, Blockbuster said it has been experimenting with three pricing models in test markets in Florida, but had no immediate plans. The tests include “demand pricing,” whereby higher-profile titles most coveted during their initial week of release would rent for $4.99 for two days, compared to $3.99 for other new releases and 99 cents for classic titles. Keyes said consumers had responded favorably to five-day rental terms and lower-priced daily rental rates. The company also is testing weekly memberships that include a rewards program for a $20 annual fee and unlimited monthly rentals for games and movies. HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE (ISSN 1934-9882) is published weekly 51 times per year (weekly except for one week at the end of December) by Questex Media Group, Inc., 306 West Michigan Street, Suite 200, Duluth, MN 55802. Subscription rates: $49.99 for one year in the United States and Possessions; $79.99 for one year in Canada and Mexico; all other countries $99.99 for one year (by surface mail). Add $75 annually for air-expedited service. Single copies (prepaid only): $6.99 in the United States, $8.99 in Canada and Mexico, $13.99 all other countries. Back issues, if available: $9.99 in the U.S.; $15.99 in Canada and Mexico; $26.99 fo http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.maxim.com http://www.gamespot.com http://www.espn.com http://www.msn.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 Contents News High-Def News Electronic Delivery News TV DVD Cine Mercado Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Contents (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - High-Def News (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - High-Def News (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Electronic Delivery News (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Electronic Delivery News (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Electronic Delivery News (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Electronic Delivery News (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Reviews (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Reviews (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Reviews (Page 24) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Reviews (Page 25) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 26) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 27) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 28) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 29) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 30) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 31) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 32) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - November 9-November 15, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover4)
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