Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - (Page 6) NEWS BRIEFS I NBC UNIVERSAL PROFIT DOWN 6% Despite record sales of more than 100 million DVD and Blu-ray Disc units combined in Q4 NBC Universal, which includes Universal Studios Home Entertainment, reported a 6% decline in consolidated operating income, to $865 million, based on a 3% drop in revenue to $4.4 billion, according to a regulatory filing. NBC Universal said strong disc sales of Mamma Mia! (No. 1 in Europe) were not enough to offset weaker-than-expected catalog DVD sales and a “tough” fall market for theatrical releases Changeling, The Express and Role Models, among others. Parent General Electric said Hulu. com (a partnership with News Corp.) was a success, in addition to Bravo, Sci Fi Channel, USA Networks, MSNBC (up 37%) and CNBC, up 14%. – Erik Gruenwedel www.homemediamagazine.com SAG, Studios Set to Meet After Negotiator Ousted By Erik Gruenwedel “I believe I do speak for the nearly 48% percent of the epresentatives from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) board who are deeply concerned about what was done yesand the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television terday and about how these changes were accomplished,” Producers, the union representing the studios, Rosenberg wrote. “Allen was fired because he was simply are set to restart contract negotiations as early as this week too good, too strong, and too much a unionist.” after the ousting of the previous chief Rosenberg said Allen was fired benegotiator. «[CHIEF NEGOTIATOR DOUG] cause of his refusal to engage in The proposed meeting, the first follow- ALLEN WAS FIRED BECAUSE HE “pattern bargaining,” whereby SAG ing the Jan. 26 termination of SAG chief WAS SIMPLY TOO GOOD, TOO would have agreed to previous labor negotiator Doug Allen, is predicated on STRONG, AND TOO MUCH A agreements between writers, directhe availability of key personnel from UNIONIST.» tors, stage workers and daytime TV both sides of the issue, according to ALAN ROSENBERG, actors and the AMPTP. industry insider Jonathan Handel. SAG PRESIDENT “Doug gave us the courage to accept The meeting would be the first involvthe fact that we had a legal right to ing the actors’ new negotiating team headed by senior advi- pursue an agreement that addressed the specific needs sor John McGuire. Former general counsel David White is of actors,” Rosenberg wrote. interim executive director. Specifically the executive has argued actors should Actors have been operating under an interim agree- receive a better deal for new media, a stance he’s taken ment since the previous contract expired last June. believing SAG members have been shortchanged for Separately, in an e-mail to SAG members, SAG presi- years in DVD residuals. dent Alan Rosenberg, a staunch supporter of Allen who Citing the declining economy, however, a growing retained his position, decried the manner in which the number of board members and high-profile actors had former chief negotiator was dismissed by a slim major- banded together in opposition to a proposed strike, ity of the board. resulting in the ouster. 30 YEARS OF NEWS FEBRUARY I 1983 ‘Star Trek’ Beams Up Home Video Sales Set the time machine to a simpler era in home entertainment: 1983, when rental stores were booming. Enter Paramount’s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In a sellthrough test on the title, pricing the VHS at $39.95 (about $40 less than the going price for most titles at the time), Paramount boldly went where no studio had gone before. The studio announced in February that the title sold 100,000 units in its first few weeks, thus paving the way for competitive home video pricing, cheaper VHS players and helping to build the framework for the sellthrough industry. “In 1983 movies on VHS cost $80, or $180 in today’s dollars, and consumers simply weren’t buying,” said independent analyst Rob Enderle. “By cutting the price in half, Paramount created a market for tapes and once again demonstrated that a smaller percentage of something is worth a lot more than 100% of nothing.” – Billy Gil R I LIONSGATE GETS ‘TWILIGHT’ PRODUCERS’ ‘SAM’S LAKE’ Aiming to ride the coattails of Summit Entertainment’s March 21 Twilight release, Barnholtz Entertainment Inc. and Lionsgate April 21 will bow the horror film Sam’s Lake, also from the producers of Twilight (Maverick Films). The DVD release will follow a limited theatrical run in New York and Los Angeles later this month. Lionsgate will also handle television and digital distribution for the film. – Chris Tribbey Analyst Calls Blockbuster an ‘Undead Zombie’ in 2009 By Erik Gruenwedel RETAIL Knocking Blockbuster Inc. as a 1980s brand that has overstayed its relevance in home entertainment is a common occurrence among some members of the media and on Wall Street. Now, Rich Smith, analyst with online multimedia financial services site The Motley Fool, has gone one step further and declared the Dallas- BEST BUY AND TARGET PLAN ADDITIONAL CORPORATE CUTS By Erik Gruenwedel I PHILIPS TO CUT 6,000 JOBS After announcing Jan. 26 a loss of $1.9 billion during the fourth quarter of 2008 — its first quarterly loss in five years — electronics manufacturer Philips announced it would cut 6,000 jobs. Philips saw its net sales drop to $10 billion in the fourth quarter, down $1 billion from the same period in 2007. – Chris Tribbey I TRAFFIC STOP NABS PIRATED DVDS A routine traffic ticket stop Jan. 26 in Williams, Calif., resulted in the arrest of three men after police found hundreds of allegedly pirated DVDs and music CDs in their pickup truck. Authorities said most of the confiscated titles had not been released on DVD, including Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s Lakeview Terrace (released Jan. 27) and the Tom Cruise starrer Valkyrie, which is still in theaters. Detective Daniel Mata, who assisted in the arrests, said he became suspicious when he spotted the DVDs, knew some of the titles were still playing in theaters and realized the packaging was not professional. He also noticed a DVD featuring all five “Saw” movies. Mata said a similar incident occurred three months ago in which a couple was arrested for selling pirated DVDs outside of a supermarket. – Erik Gruenwedel GALLERY CUTS DOWN DISTRIBUTION CENTERS; 213 EMPLOYEES LET GO By Erik Gruenwedel Movie Gallery Inc. will transfer its distribution center operations in Wilsonville, Ore., to the center in Nashville, Tenn., resulting in layoffs for 213 employees over the next two months. About 25 remaining distribution workers in Wilsonville will be offered positions within the No. 2 DVD rental service’s organization. Gallery still employs 389 people at the Wilsonville corporate headquarters. Gallery reported a net loss of $38.9 million on revenue of $555 million for the period from Jan. 6, 2008, to April 6, 2008 — the last quarterly period before it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection May 20. RETAIL based No. 1 DVD rental service the worst stock of 2009. Specifically, Smith said Blockbuster, in addition to not generating a penny in real profit over the past seven quarters, has about $100 million in available cash and faces $615 million in long-term debt, including $200 million due this year. Blockbuster was saddled with about $1 billion in debt when former parent Viacom Inc. kicked it to the curb in 2004. It has been trying to pay down that debt ever since. The analyst said despite attempting to position itself to consumers as a one-stop convenience store for all things home entertainment, Blockbuster is diverting about 50% of its operating profit to pay creditors. “It seems to me that Blockbuster will have to roll over a big chunk of debt this year,” Smith wrote. “And if See BLOCKBUSTER, Page 25 Best Buy Co. said it would begin initiating additional layoffs at its Minneapolis headquarters next month. Details regarding the new cuts, including the number of positions affected, will be disclosed Feb. 19, according to Best Buy spokesperson Sue Bush Nehring. Citing a bleak retail landscape for the foreseeable future, the No. 1 consumer electronics retailer late last year offered incentive-laden voluntary terminations to its 4,000 corporate employees, which 500 staffers accepted. “[Best Buy] tried to be innovative and thoughtful to employees by offering the voluntary packages,” Brad Thomas, analyst with KeyBanc Capital Markets, told Reuters. “Given the weak sales environment, it’s really not a surprise that involuntary cuts are coming.” Michael Lasser, analyst with Barclays Capital, welcomed the cuts by upgrading RETAIL Best Buy shares from “equal weight” to “overweight.” In a research note, Lasser said Best Buy would increase sales $2.5 billion with the demise of rival Circuit City. Separately, Target Corp., one of the larger retailers of DVD and Blu-ray movies, said it would eliminate 600 corporate jobs and not fill an additional 400 positions at its New York headquarters. The retailer said it would also shutter a Little Rock, Ark.-based distribution center idling 500 workers. Target operates 1,682 stores in 48 states and 34 distribution centers, and the company employs approximately 350,000 people worldwide. “We are clearly operating in an unprecedented economic environment that requires us to make some extremely difficult decisions to ensure Target remains competitive over the long term,” said Gregg Steinhafel, president and CEO of Target, in a statement. FORMER JOURNALIST LAUNCHES SUCCESSOR TO PEERFLIX By Chris Tribbey T hose still mourning the death of Peerflix may have another option now: LendAround.com. Tim Jackson, a former journalist with The Economist and former columnist for The Financial Times, launched the site in beta form this month. Users create an account, invite people they trust and start lending things, including DVDs. “Every time I return from Africa, I look around and say ‘Wow, we have a lot of stuff,’” said Jackson, who resides in London. “There are 2 billion DVDs sitting on Americans’ shelves. DVDs make sense to share. They’re small in size and shape, and unique in that the http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.LendAround.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 Contents News TV DVD Health/Fitness Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Contents (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - News (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - News (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - News (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - News (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - TV DVD (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - TV DVD (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Health/Fitness (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Health/Fitness (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Reviews (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Reviews (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Reviews (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Reviews (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Pipeline (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Pipeline (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Top 20 Sellers (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Top 20 Sellers (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 24) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 25) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 26) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 27) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 28) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - February 2, 2009 - Just Announced (Page Cover4)
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.