Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - (Page 40) NEWS Sony Launches Its Movie and TV Service Continued from page 1 www.homemediamagazine.com TV content, social interaction, and the sharing of photos and other media. Starting last week consumers were able to rent high-definition and standard-definition movies, and buy SD movies and TV content from studios such as Funimation, Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Turner, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures. At launch, the service had more than 300 movies and 1,200 TV episodes. “We’ll be adding a wide variety of TV and movie content each week,” Tretton said. Additionally, Sony will introduce original exclusive content such as “Xam’d: Lost Memories,” an anime series developed by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, delivered in SD and HD. Episodes are $2.99 each for SD and $3.99 for HD. Movies can be grouped in multiple ways, including by genre, studio, new arrivals, HD content, purchase and rental. There are also channels for TV content and anime. Film trailers and information about each title are accessible from the store. Some of the films include Jumper, The Eye, 3:10 to Yuma, Hellboy, Resident Evil: Extinction and 10,000 B.C. Cloverfield was available for rent at $2.99 for SD and $5.99 for HD, and $14.99 as a SD purchase. Movies are available only for purchase in SD, and prices range from $9.99 to $14.99. Studios are not allowing any HD purchases via the Web, according to Grace Chen, senior manager of the PlayStation Store. TV networks onboard for launch include: A&E, Adult Swim, Discovery Channel, Fox, FX, History Channel, Military Channel, Sony Pictures TV, TLC and Tru TV. Chen said additional networks will come on board throughout the year, and new shows will be added weekly. While episodes are sold individually, Chen said there are plans to release entire seasons of shows in the near future. Unlike Microsoft’s Xbox Live Marketplace service, users won’t be able to download a TV show multiple times. Chen said because PlayStation 3 has plenty of hard drive disc space, consumers shouldn’t run out of storage space. A standard-def movie runs between 2.5GB and 3GB of storage space, she said. Using progressive download technology, consumers can begin watching any movie one minute into the download process. The download time for a two-hour SD film is about one hour. Consumers who rent a movie from the video delivery service have 14 days to watch the content. Once content playback is started, consumers have a full 24 hours to watch their rental. Purchased content can be shared on multiple activated devices, including the PS3 and PSP systems per PlayStation Network account, depending on the type of content purchased by the user. Consumers can connect their PSP to their PS3 with a USB cable and automatically transfer the movie to the PSP. It’s also possible to download movies from a PC to PSP. Steppin’ Up to DVD Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment’s Andy Siditsky (left) and Gabrielle Chamberlin (far right) joined Step Up 2 The Streets director Jon Chu and cast members Briana Evigan and Adam G. Sevani for a DVD and Blu-ray launch event July 14 at the Avalon in Hollywood hosted by Disney. Photo by: Alex Berliner©Berliner Studio/BEImages Amazon Puts VOD on Sony TVs Continued from page 1 Titles and pricing were not immediately available. The service, which includes most major studio fare with the exception of The Walt Disney Co. programming, which is earmarked for Apple’s iTunes, underscored a heady week for digital distribution. Netflix and Microsoft July 14 confirmed long anticipated scuttlebutt the online DVD rental pioneer would begin streaming movie and TV content via the Xbox 360, and Sony Corp. announced a digital movie and TV service. Amazon also inked a deal with Sony Electronics that would connect the VOD service to Sony’s line of Bravia high-definition televisions via a proprietary $300 wireless Internet video link. The VOD deal appears to circumvent Amazon’s Unbox download service, which reportedly has generated little traction among consumers due to its special software require- Microsoft Boosts Xbox Live With Netflix Continued from page 1 Bourne Supremacy, 12 Monkeys, American Pie and The Mummy Returns. In addition to having access to all of the Netflix movies, Xbox 360 owners will be able to share their Netflix movies and TV content with their friends online. As part of the new Xbox Live software update this fall, gamers will be able to have Xbox Live parties with others around the country and watch movies together from different locations. Microsoft’s Xbox Live has 12 million subscribers worldwide, and a new member joins every five seconds, Schappert said. Since the Xbox 360 launch, consumers have spent more than $1 billion on Xbox Live, he said. People have downloaded more than one-half billion pieces of content, Schappert said, adding one-third of all paid U.S. Xbox Live downloads in the United States are movies and TV shows. There are more than 10,000 movies and TV shows available on Xbox Live, he said. “There’s no need to visit the video store or search through a pile of discs any more,” Schappert said. “Xbox 360 offers more entertainment than any other device connected to your TV.” Edward Woo, media analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, said the deal is incrementally bigger than Netflix’s Roku settop box due to the number of Xbox 360 units on the market and millions of Xbox Live subscribers. “This makes Netflix a major streaming company,” Woo said. The software giant also quashed rumors that it would add Sony’s Bluray Disc playback, available with the PlayStation 3, to its console. Microsoft has “no interest” in adding Bluray functionality to the Xbox 360, Shane Kim, VP of strategy and business development for Microsoft’s interactive entertainment business, told Forbes. “I can categorically say that we’re not working on a Blu-ray player for Xbox 360,” Kim told Forbes. “To my knowledge, we don’t have any intent to do that.” ments and limited availability beyond the PC. “Creating this on-demand availableeverywhere access to premium content is going to be very attractive to consumers,” Robert Jacobs, senior manager at Sony Electronics, told The New York Times. Analysts say the news may put pressure on Blockbuster Inc. to ready previously announced plans to re-launch download movie service Movielink. The Dallas-based rental company has said it intended to incorporate the service into a revamped Web site, among other venues. Edward Woo, media analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, said he had expected Blockbuster to make the announcement during the second quarter. The recent developments, he said, could expedite matters. “It’s now past the second quarter, so maybe soon,” Woo said. A Blockbuster representative was not immediately available for comment. YouTube Gets Lionsgate Video Continued from page 1 Monica, Calif.-based mini-major will make available ad-supported clips from its vaunted portfolio that consumers can slice and dice into their own videos. Clips will be from such films as 3:10 to Yuma, Rambo, War, Crash the “Saw” franchise, and the TV show “Weeds,” among others. Concurrently, users will be given options via links to purchase the content either electronically or in conventional packaged media, including standard DVD and Bluray Disc. Users will be encouraged to interact with Lionsgate in terms of how the clips are used and repurposed, including possible studio feedback on their original usergenerated responses. Curt Marvis, president of digital distribution with Lionsgate, said the strategy reflects the studio’s attempt to deal with L ATE FL ASHES I REDBOX: ENTERTAINMENT STAYING HOME With 40% of consumers spending their summer vacations at home due to rising gasoline and food costs, nearly 90% plan to rent at least one DVD movie, according to an online survey of more than 1,000 consumers released by Redbox kiosk rental service. to make it easier and more affordable for people to set up and use digital lifestyle technology in the home. I STILL NO SAG DEAL WITH PRODUCERS The Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) July 17 bemoaned the Screen Actors Guilds’ (SAG) refusal to accept their week-old “final” contract offer. The producers said SAG’s chief negotiator, in turning down the contract, had cited a shift in the digital media landscape since the AMPTP and Directors Guild of America reached their agreement. A SAG representative was not available for comment by press time. — Erik Gruenwedel I DELL, WAL-MART TEST IN-HOME IT SERVICE Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Dell Inc. have begun testing an in-home computer and home theater service patterned after Best Buy Co.’s Geek Squad and Circuit City’s FireDog program. Called “Solution Station by Dell,” the service is designed burgeoning new media and Web site phenomena that commands nearly 90% market share of all online videos. “It’s a reaction to consumer demands,” Marvis said. “YouTube has a huge audience that wants to consume video. What nobody has figured out is how to monetize that audience. We hope to [do that] through both the advertisement surrounding it and the download.” He said with Lionsgate content already in circulation on YouTube, the studio had an obligation to protect its intellectual property in a non-litigious way. Short of pulling the content off the site, Lionsgate had few alternatives, according to Marvis. Separately, YouTube said it had begun streaming content via a proprietary TiVo set-top box previously announced in March. 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-expe http://www.homemediamagazine.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 Home Media Magazine - June 20-26, 2008 Contents News TV DVD Commentary Horror/Halloween Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - June 20-26, 2008 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - June 20-26, 2008 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - June 20-26, 2008 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - June 20-26, 2008 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - June 20-26, 2008 (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - June 20-26, 2008 (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Contents (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - News (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - News (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - News (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - News (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - News (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Commentary (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Commentary (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Commentary (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Commentary (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Horror/Halloween (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Horror/Halloween (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Horror/Halloween (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Horror/Halloween (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Horror/Halloween (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Horror/Halloween (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Horror/Halloween (Page 24) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Horror/Halloween (Page 25) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Reviews (Page 26) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Reviews (Page 27) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Reviews (Page 28) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Reviews (Page 29) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Reviews (Page 30) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Reviews (Page 31) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 32) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Pipeline (Page 33) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 34) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 35) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 36) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 37) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 38) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 39) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 40) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - July 20-26, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover4)
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