Home Media Magazine - May 25 - 31, 2008 - (Page 26)

COMMENTARY www.homemediamagazine.com THE BUZZ BY JOHN LATCHEM, ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Can Blu-ray Capitalize on Catalog Upgrades? s Blu-ray player penetration grows beyond the early adopter stage, the willingness of consumers to convert their catalog titles will be an important test in determining how well Blu-ray catches on. One reason for the boom of DVD over the past decade was the enthusiasm with which collectors upgraded their VHS collections. I fear Blu-ray Disc may fall short of DVD when it comes to this conversion factor. Regular readers of this magazine may have noticed our new Blu-ray Market Share chart, which tracks Blu-ray sales as a percentage of total home video sales for a particular title. For example, of all copies of Independence Day sold the week of May 5-11, 55.85% were the Blu-ray version, putting it third for the week. A as Blade Runner) released day-and-date on both formats, so consumers who don’t have the title would just buy the Blu-ray without double dipping. The top 20 in this category ranges from 19% to 5% BD share. As far as catalog goes, DVD quality is probably sufficient for most titles. The range of films actuAt first glance, this makes it seem that picking ally improved in HD is probably limited to specialup a Blu-ray copy is a top priority for ID4 fans, but effects blockbusters such as ID4. Factoring out VHS, Blu-ray amounts to only 1.2% further examination of Nielsen VideoScan data of all-time ID4 disc sales, which means the BD has tells another story. Total sales of ID4 that week amounted to about undersold the DVD by nearly 8,000%. By comparione-tenth of 1% of all ID4 copies ever sold in any son, ID4 DVDs have outsold the VHS version by format. So most people looking to own ID4 prob- 461%. Comparing those conversion factors reveals Blu-ray has a way to go. ably already have it. Most titles with a high all-time BD share are new titles (or definitive releases of catalog titles, such John Latchem’s e-mail address is jlatchem@questex.com AS FAR AS CATALOG GOES, DVD QUALITY IS PROBABLY SUFFICIENT FOR MOST TITLES. THE RANGE OF FILMS ACTUALLY IMPROVED IN HD IS PROBABLY LIMITED TO SPECIAL-EFFECTS BLOCKBUSTERS. READERS’ FORUM I The following letter is in response to Stephanie Prange’s column “A Disturbing Lull for Blu-ray “(HM, May 11-17): T H EY SA ID IT A Disturbing Lull Means No Buy You are spot on with this article. As you may recall, I’ve written before and in favor of HD DVD adoption due to price and ease of transition. However, now that the industry chose Blu-ray, look what’s happening (just as you wrote) … there is hardly any momentum. Warner Bros. took a big payout to go Blu exclusively (Editor’s Note: Warner execs haven’t confirmed this) and tipped the scales in favor of that format. They must realize it was a colossal error and now release all their new titles day-and-date for iTunes download. I’ve still not bought a BD player, despite owning nine Peter Bock Blu-ray discs. I won’t buy one until the purchase price on West Linn, Ore. a full-featured player (read: Profile 2.0) is below $400, and I am a home theater buff. Just think how others who like I The following letter is in response to “Genius Q1 Loss Widens on movies, but are not fanatics like me, will behave. More Revenue” (HM, May 18-24): David D’Oliveira Toronto, Canada I The following letter is in response to “Iger: $300 Blu-ray Player Would Boost Home Entertainment” (HM, May 11-17): in the format war is Sony! And yes, BD does look absolutely stunning on a 52-inch LCD or plasma screen displaying 1080p, but is that what most Americans have? Or is the typical big screen in the family room more like a 42-inch LCD or plasma screen displaying 720p? In which case, a typical viewer probably would not see much difference between a standard DVD upconverted to 720p and a Blu-ray disc downconverted to 720p. Remember we’re talking about Joe-six-pack here, not a sophisticated videophile consumer. Big-screen TVs for $3,000, $300 Blu-ray players, $30 Blu-ray discs. Right! It’s going to be $5 for a gallon of milk and gasoline, folks, and forget about Blu-ray. “[IT’S] NOT A VERY CLEVER BUSINESS MODEL TO SUE YOUR [POTENTIAL] BEST CUSTOMER.” Corynne McSherry, staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, on the MPAA suing individual illegal downloaders “NOTHING COMES FROM NOWHERE. WE ALL COBBLE TOGETHER PIECES OF WHAT’S LYING AROUND.” Novelist Jonathan Lethem weighs in on the debate about copyright law in the Internet age Drinkwater Is No Genius? I think this is an interesting article. The results were telegraphed a year or two ago when Drinkwater decided to restrict rental sales by doing a Blockbuster exclusive. He isn’t really holding down sales. This morning I bought The Great Debaters at Wal-Mart for $13.99 (they matched the Circuit City price). He is merely making it hard for rentailers to buy from him. I think his exclusives advertised on TV are merely costing him ad money and creating a market for me, as my customers are always glad to see that “only at Blockbuster” movie available at my store. You have to question the wisdom and business sense of a company leader who runs his company into the ground then [sees his SVP/CFO resign] because the figures aren’t there. This is his doing, and it is a faulty plan. “Genius” they ain’t! It will be interesting to watch how soon the Weinstein boys decide they have a larger market out there than Trevor Drink-Kool-Aid sees. They should bail, before this pulls them down even more. Jerry Briggs President, 602 Tell City, Ind. We Want to Hear From You! Please send letters to: Editor, Home Media Magazine 201 East Sandpointe Ave., Suite 500 Santa Ana, CA 92707 E-mail: HomeMediaMagazine@questex.com Fax: 714.338.6712 Include name, business address (city and state) and telephone number. Letters are subject to editing. No Boost In Sight for Blu-ray I am so happy that Bob Iger remains a believer and feels that Blu-ray would do much better if the players cost “only” $300. Well, duh! Does it really take a Harvard MBA to understand the concept of price elasticity of demand? That you can expect to sell two times as many $300 BD players as $400 BD players, and three times as many $200 players as $400 players? No, I think Iger is smarter than that. I think he has finally figured out that he and Disney have gotten into bed with the 800-pound gorilla of consumer electronics marketing, and there’s a risk the gorilla will turn over in its sleep and crush Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. I think Iger has figured out that Sony is selling the PS3 at or below its cost to gain market share in its video game battle against Microsoft and Nintendo, and that for Sony, the BD player in the PS3 is not the big story. This is why I claim the winner Join Us Online: www.homemediamagazine.com Visit our Web site to participate in discussion boards and weekly polls on the latest industry issues. 26 Home Media Magazine May 25–31, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com

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Home Media Magazine - May 25 - 31, 2008 Contents News Hardware Commentary TV DVD Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - May 25 - 31, 2008

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