Home Media Magazine - May 18-24, 2008 - (Page 24)

NEWS STUDY: CABLERS SLOW FILE-SHARING By Chris Tribbey www.homemediamagazine.com and claim that it’s in the best interest of all their subscribers. “To ensure the best possible online experience for our customers, Cox actively manages network traffic through a variety of methods, including traffic prioritization and protocol filtering,” Cox wrote to the AP. The research obtained by the news organization showed that any time a user downloaded a file using the file-sharing program BitTorrent and then tried to upload and share it, the connection was blocked. Repeated attempts often got the file uploaded, the AP noted. ox Communications, the fourth-largest U.S. Internet service provider (ISP), and Comcast Corp., the second-largest, are actively blocking file-sharing efforts by their subscribers, according to research obtained by The Associated Press. The research, done by a software firm in Germany, found that 62% of Comcast subscribers who participated in the study had their connections blocked when they attempted to use file-sharing services; 54% of Cox subscribers encountered the same thing. Previous allegations that Comcast was blocking its subscribers Internet usage due to file sharing resulted in an ongoing Federal Communications Commission investigation. Congress also has introduced legislation that would keep ISPs from stopping file sharing. Both Comcast and Cox have acknowledged that they manage their Internet traffic Sinatra DVD, Stamp Unveiled Cable Compression May Hurt HD Picture Continued from page 1 Video Essentials and his most recent tutorial, DVE: HD Basics, available on HD DVD and Blu-ray. What cable viewers see is largely dependent on how the signal is encoded, and how much it’s compressed. The average cable channel may be compressed by a 2-to-1 ratio, but some channels are compressed at a 3to-1 ratio, which “steps on” or waters down the quality of the high-def signal layered between standard signals that appear on other channels. Some of the quality loss may come from changes in how the signals are encoded. The bitrate — think of the rate at which water comes out of a hose — also can be a huge factor in signal quality. “It’s potentially a combination of two things: doing a poor job of decoding and re-encoding, or trying to reduce the bitrate to squeeze more in,” Kane said. “They could be compromising the bitrate of MPEG-4 so that no matter what the signal, it would not look as good.” Bitrate is not the only factor in signal quality, said Comcast spokeswoman Jenni Moyers. “Signals with higher bitrates do not always result in a higher-quality picture,” she said. “The quality of the source signal can vary from program to program. Was it shot in high-def or upconverted to high-def? And picture quality is fairly subjective. People can set things like color and contrast [at home].” AVScience Forum poster bfdtv found wide disparities in bitrates on Comcast and Verizon FiOS signals. He posted his information online, including screen captures. He found a Discovery Channel HD program transmitted at 14.16 Mbps on FiOS, but only 10.43 Mbps on Comcast. Programming on Starz HD was sent at 11.93 Mbps on FiOS, but 9.76 Mbps on Comcast. Among the high-def channels he listed as suffering signal degradation on Comcast are Sci Fi, Discovery Channel, USA, Animal Planet, Discover HD Theater, A&E, Starz and Universal HD. Other channels, including HBO HD and Cinemax HD, may be victims in some markets. That led another forum poster, Rakesh.S, to respond: “Outside of sports on ESPN, I have no use for cable television — TV shows on OTA (over-the-air) are available from the local affiliates. I’m glad we have HD discs for movies now … don’t need to worry about stuff looking like ass on cable.” Others in the blogosphere have noted improvements in Comcast’s transmissions since an Associated Press article in late April called attention to the problem. Moyer attributed some of the problems noted earlier to working bugs out of a new technology the company is using, called “second-pass encoding.” “What that lets us do is it looks at it two times [and] removes redundant data that can’t be seen by the human eye but could decrease signal quality,” she said. “Second-pass encoding increases the processing of the incoming signal. The reason we use that is that it optimizes the MPEG video without decompressing and recompressing it.” Comcast isn’t the only cabler with issues, but a Time Warner Cable spokesman did not provide information by press time. To make matters more confusing, Kane said the studios may dictate the quality of copies of their movies in contracts with the various cable stations. “In PPV, the DirecTV system is having the AVC encoding done by the studio or a post-production studio in Hollywood,” Kane said. “The bitrate is being dictated by someone in Hollywood, rather than someone at the service.” Only a large cable company could pull off the same feat, he added. “What the average viewer is seeing in difference in picture quality has much more to do with the preparation of the master than the encoding,” Kane said. The U.S. Postal Service honored Frank Sinatra May 13 with a stamp to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his passing. Sinatra’s two daughters, Nancy (left) and Tina (right), along with Ronnee Sass of Warner Home Video attended the ceremony in Las Vegas, where they unveiled the stamp and celebrated Warner Home Video’s release of 22 of Sinatra’s films in five new DVD sets. Blockbuster Returns to Profit Continued from page 1 L ATE FL ASHES I GALLERY POSTS LOSS Bankrupt Movie Gallery Inc.’s seesaw battle with profitability took another red dip last week when it reported a consolidated net loss of nearly $50 million on revenue of more than $151 million for the period from March 10 to April 6, according to a regulatory filing. Gallery stores posted a loss of $16.6 million on revenue of $49.5 million, while subsidiary Hollywood Video lost $33.2 million on revenue of $102 million. — Erik Gruenwedel ad-supported, high-def movies. The company recently inked deals with Arts Alliance America, BBC Worldwide America, and — Chris Tribbey Fortissimo Films. I UNDER-$300 BLU-RAY PLAYER AT WAL-MART? A representative from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. declined comment regarding Web chatter it was stocking select stores with a Magnavox-branded, Chinese-made Blu-ray player with a retail price of $298 — $100 less than Sony’s PlayStation 3 game system with a BD drive. The entrylevel Profile 1.1 (model NB500MG9) upconverts standard DVD to 1080p reso— Erik Gruenwedel lution. I JAMAN HAS FREE HD FILMS Online movie purveyor Jaman.com has launched a free streaming option for 100 before there is widespread deployment and consumer acceptance.” Keyes said the recently enacted due diligence process with Circuit City would hopefully reinforce the benefits of a possible acquisition. He reiterated that he would not proceed with the transaction unless it made sense both strategically and financially. “The transaction is not critical for our continued transformation,” he said. Keyes said Blockbuster will roll out simplified pricing and terms this summer that he believes are superior to price reductions. In a previous investor call, Keyes said a visit to a Blockbuster store after joining the company left him so confused about rental prices, he vowed a change. Edward Woo, research analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los AngeIes, said the simplified pricing will include longer rental periods. “I assume a ‘simpler’ pricing plan will be good for customers, so it should be good for its sales and comps,” he said. Keyes lauded ongoing improvements in DVD stocking, which included a 60% in-stock availability for new releases in the first week in the quarter, compared to 20% the comparable quarter last year. “We believe there are other better ways to compete for the customer than through price,” Keyes said. He said Blockbuster won’t charge a premium for Blu-ray rentals, characterizing the HD format as important for sustaining profitable growth. By comparison, rival Netflix has stated it will charge more for Blu-ray rentals. Blockbuster in June will unveil a revamped edition of Movielink.com with a link to the company’s site. The download service features a catalog of more than 9,000 digital titles. In the interim, consumer acceptance for traditional DVD rental remained robust. Buoyed by a 2.9% bump in samestore (open at least 12 months) sales — the first in five years — U.S. rental revenue topped $825 million, versus $821 million the prior-year period. The company said more revenue was generated despite having 160 fewer company-operated stores than the same period the previous year. Blockbuster has shuttered 412 company stores globally, including the sale of its British Game Station chain, since the prior-year period. Keyes said Blockbuster reduced sales, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses and ad spending $100 million in the quarter. Domestic DVD rentals totaled $468 million, compared to $471.5 million the prior year. Video game rentals generated $54.6 million, compared to $58 million. Previously viewed disc sales topped $139 million, compared to nearly $138 million during the prior-year period. Online rental revenue reached nearly $164 million, a 6.1% increase from $154.2 million the previous year. Keyes said Blockbuster Online maintained a base of 3.1 million subscribers. U.S. sales included DVD movies at $57.6 million, versus $54.2 million the prior year; games at $20 million, from $11.7 million the year before; and related merchandise at $47 million, versus $43 million the prior year. Overall revenue decreased 5.4% to $1.39 billion, compared to $1.47 billion the previous year. 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 an http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://Jaman.com http://Movielink.com

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Home Media Magazine - May 18-24, 2008 Contents News TV DVD Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - May 18-24, 2008

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