Home Media Magazine - April 27 - May 3, 2008 - (Page 14) ELECTRONIC DELIVERY www.homemediamagazine.com International Retailer Carrefour To Enter the Download Market By Sam Andrews ARIS — Carrefour Group, the world’s No. 2 retailer behind Wal-Mart, is entering the movie download business as it launches a service in its key European territories of France, Spain, Belgium and Italy. Announcing the initiative at the PEVE Digital Entertainment Conference, Carrefour’s international non-food chief Christophe Geoffroy said the site will offer both download-to-own and download-to-rent movies and television programs. Geoffroy, whose company has a 13.3% market share of the €2 billion DVD market in those territories, said the decision to launch digital BRIEFS I REPORT: MOBILE MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT TO BOOM Ongoing improvements in Web browsing, content availability and the user experience should help U.S. mobile media and entertainment revenue reach $6.6 billion by 2012, according to a new report. The study by research firm Analysys said mobile media and entertainment revenue in the United States topped $3.1 billion in 2007 and isn’t expected to explode until 2010, when technology and market conditions improve. Analysys projects mobile TV and VOD will spearhead the greatest percentage – Erik Gruenwedel growth at 27%. The principle driver of online video remains repurposed TV content, but the report said extracting incremental revenue would require engaging a wider audience – Erik Gruenwedel more effectively. P distribution was an extension of Carrefour’s focus on entertainment. “It’s very important for Carrefour to have more than one point of sale,” he said. “We have to be in contact with the consumers in their homes as well as in-store. “We know full well that the market forecast for VOD is low at the moment, but we are convinced that it will develop over the coming years. And we want to provide a legal solution for customers to see the best possible content.” While he declined to reveal prices for the downloads, saying they varied by country, he said they will be competitive with the market. “It’s going to be very straightfor- ward, not at all complicated, and we want to be able to give the consumer a very positive experience,” he said. “After two to three minutes with a normal broadband connection, people can see the film. They don’t have to wait an hour for it to download.” The move to digital did not spell the end of store-based sales, he said, echoing calls by other speakers at the conference to look at other means of attracting consumers than price. Describing the added value offered by Blu-ray Disc as a wonderful opportunity, Geoffroy said retailers had “to create an emotional experience in our stores. If it is just transactional and centered on price only, then profits will be low.” I VUDU TAKES TOP HONORS Digital movie service operator Vudu won “Best Product: Digital Home” honors at the 2008 RetailVision spring event recently held in Orlando. “The Digital Home Award represents the best of the consumer tech products currently on the market and are chosen by the retailers themselves,” said Ray Robidoux of the consulting firm Sightline – Chris Tribbey Group. I REPORT: ONLINE TO SUPPLANT TV, CABLE REVENUE Online will become a major means of distribution over the next decade, according to a new report. Jim Bottoms, co-managing director of Understanding & Solutions, which released the report, said monthly global TV and cable subscriptions account for almost 50% of annual consumer expenditures on entertainment, followed by DVD, music CD and video games. He said online will displace TV and cable as consumers continue to seek entertainment online. He said, however, that Web-based VOD continues to be hamstrung by consumers desire to watch content on their TV and not computer screens. In addition, Bottoms said competition to cable VOD continues to escalate with TV broadcasters ramping up efforts to repurpose network programming as ad-supported content online. I PETER GABRIEL LAUNCHES THE FILTER WEB SITE Pop veteran Peter Gabriel’s second incarnation as a digital media guru has now led to the creation of The Filter, a Web site that will recommend video and music content to its users, Fortune reports. Gabriel, who put up $8.5 million to develop the site, along with England’s Eden Ventures, hopes to one day make the site capable of making such recommendations as what restaurant to eat at in a foreign city — along with what clothes to wear at the restaurant. The site works by logging activities on the Internet, such as buying music or clicking on links. Currently private-beta testing, The Filter will open to the public in May. Meanwhile, Gabriel, who in 2000 co-founded European digital music provider OD2, has said he’d like to release music electronically, – Billy Gil similarly to Radiohead. IMAGE OFFERS FREE STREAM AND DOWNLOAD FOR EARTH DAY By Erik Gruenwedel I n recognition of Earth Day April 22, Image Entertainment offered free streams or downloads of 13-year-old Oscar-nominated Imax documentary The Living Sea. The title is the first of several new Imax releases Chatsworth, Calif.-based Image secured electronic and packaged-media rights to, including Blu-ray Disc. Released through digital unit Egami Media, the Meryl Streep-narrated documentary was available online at MSN Green, CinemaNow, Movielink, Amazon Unbox, BitTorrent, Vudu and mSpot for one week. With music by Sting, Living Sea explores the depths of the ocean. Viewers come face-toface with life-sized humpback whales, jellyfish, clams, Hawaiian surf and deep sea dives. “This event will expose consumers to the fast arriving future of digital video delivery where plastic discs and packaging are no longer necessary,” said Mitch Mallon, VP of digital sales with Egami. Image expects Egami to generate $4 million in revenue in fiscal 2009, including $1.8 million in video, up from $989,000 in fiscal 2008. TOP 5 RANK TITLE E LE C T R O NI C SELLT H R OUG H Week ended April 19, 2008 RELEASE DATE VIDEO LABEL GENRE TOP 5 RANK TITLE E L E C TRO N I C S E L L THRO U GH Week ended April 20, 2008 RELEASE DATE VIDEO LABEL GENRE 1 2 3 4 5 Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem Juno Dexter: Season 1 — Episode 9 In the Name of the King There Will Be Blood 4/15/08 4/15/08 7/2/07 4/15/08 4/8/08 Fox Fox Showtime Fox Paramount Sci-Fi Comedy Drama Fantasy Drama Source: Movielink 1 2 3 4 5 Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem Juno Justice League: The New Frontier There Will Be Blood In the Name of the King 4/15/08 4/15/08 2/26/08 4/8/08 4/15/08 Fox Fox Warner Paramount Fox Sci-Fi Comedy Animated Drama Fantasy Source: CinemaNow TOP 5 RANK TITLE E LE CT R O NIC D OW NLOAD S Week ended April 19, 2008 RELEASE DATE VIDEO LABEL GENRE TOP 5 RANK TITLE E L E C TRO N I C DO WN L O A DS Week ended April 20, 2008 RELEASE DATE VIDEO LABEL GENRE 1 2 3 4 5 I Am Legend Hitman Beowulf Atonement Stargate: The Ark of Truth 4/17/08 4/9/08 4/11/08 4/16/08 4/10/08 Warner Fox Paramount Universal Fox/MGM Sci-Fi Action Fantasy Drama Sci-Fi Source: Movielink 1 2 3 4 5 I Am Legend No Country for Old Men Hitman Atonement Enchanted 4/17/08 4/10/08 4/9/08 4/16/08 4/17/08 Warner Disney/Miramax Fox Universal Disney Sci-Fi Drama Action Drama Fantasy Source: CinemaNow 14 Home Media Magazine April 27–May 3, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com
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