Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - (Page 8) NEWS BRIEFS I GALLERY CONVERTS DEBT TO EQUITY Movie Gallery Oct. 6 converted $151.4 million of first-lien debt into more than 15 million shares of common stock valued at $10 per share. The No. 2 DVD rental chain and Sopris Capital Advisors, the private equity firm that owns much of the Dothan, Ala.-based company’s pre-bankruptcy debt, last month sought to convert up to $205 million of firstlien debt into common stock. When Gallery emerged from Chapter 11 protection in May, Sopris converted $72 million of Gallery’s $175 million second-lien debt into equity (stock) of the restructured company. Gallery has said it would accept financial assignments up to $250 million with lenders associated with the deal in exchange for common stock at $10 per share. An assignment typically refers to the transfer of a registered security from one owner to another. – Erik Gruenwedel www.homemediamagazine.com Circuit City Gets Advice, Analysts Say It’s Too Late By Erik Gruenwedel challenges, with little success. RETAIL Circuit City Stores is working “As the stock market indicates, with unnamed third-party advisors to investors don’t have a lot of faith,” improve its performance. Woo said. “They have long odds, to Spokesperson Bill Cimino said Cir- say the least.” cuit City suspended 16 of 26 planned Those odds appear to be getting store openings for fiscal 2009. It pre- longer. The Richmond Times-Disviously announced that all store open- patch reported that Bernard Sands, a ings slated for fiscal 2010 had been credit ratings and service company, postponed. removed its approval of Circuit City He said it wasn’t on concerns about its policy to comment on «AS THE STOCK ability to pay vendors. possible changes in MARKET INDICATES, Stacey Widlitz, anamerchandising strate- INVESTORS DON’T HAVE lyst with Pali Research gies of different departA LOT OF FAITH» in New York, said the ments, including packEDWARD WOO, credit downgrade could aged media and DVD. MEDIA ANALYST spook some suppliCircuit City recently ers into filling smaller reported a second-quarter (ended orders and extracting tougher terms Aug. 31) loss of more than $239 mil- — a death knell entering the holiday lion, and last month replaced CEO season. The analyst said the chain has Philip Schoonover with vice chair- several hundred stores in “subpar locaman and acting president/CEO James tions” with “cheap leases” signed in Marcum. the 1990s. She said the short-sighted Circuit City is attempting to reha- strategy would backfire as Circuit City bilitate itself at a time when consumer continues to lose market share to rival and investor confidence in retail is in a Best Buy and discounters. freefall, said Edward Woo, media ana“[That] combination does not paint lyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities a picture that implies Circuit City in Los Angeles. He said Circuit City, will survive post-Q4 as a public comwhich has posted just one profitable pany,” Widlitz said in a note. “We quarter since fiscal 2007, has tried do not believe Circuit City will avoid for years to find an answer to its fiscal bankruptcy.” (L-R): Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes; Marshall Forster, EVP North America, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment; and Blockbuster’s David Podeschi. Blockbuster Names Sony Pictures Top DVD Supplier By Erik Gruenwedel RETAIL Blockbuster Inc. named Sony Pictures Home Entertainment its top film supplier during the Dallas-based No. 1 DVD rental company’s inaugural supplier summit last week. CEO Jim Keyes and other executives gave presentations, which included on-site tours of Blockbuster’s new concept stores. David Podeschi, SVP of merchandise, distribution and logistics at Blockbuster, said the annual summit was intended to show vendors the DVD rental giant is expanding and meeting the challenges of an I U.S. SUPREME COURT PASSES ON DVR PATENT RULING The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Dish Network Corp. over a $89.8 million judgment awarded to digital video recording (DVR) pioneer TiVo in a patent infringement case. The top court issued the decision without comment. Alviso, Calif.-based TiVo said it was “extremely pleased” with the Supreme Court’s decision, which upheld separate lower court rulings regarding willful patent infringement, full award of damages, and a permanent injunction against satellite provider Dish’s infringing DVR products. TiVo created the first commercial DVR that allows users to pause, record and fastforward television programming. Dish (formerly EchoStar Communications Corp.) said it would pay TiVo in the next several days about $104 million based on the 2006 awarded damages plus accrued interest. The Englewood, Colo.-based company said the ruling would not affect its 3 million customers with a DVR since it had issued new software that it claimed does not infringe on TiVo’s patent outlined in the federal court trial. – Erik Gruenwedel increasingly diverse home entertainment market. “We wanted to make sure our suppliers knew what we at Blockbuster are doing to grow our business and how that can translate into their own business growth,” Podeschi said. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Sony Electronics this year partnered with Blockbuster to offer Bluray Disc point-of-purchase displays and kiosks in stores. Activision Blizzard was named top video game supplier. Framed Picture Enterprise was named general merchandise supplier of the year. SAG HEAD CONFIDENT OF STRIKE VOTE By Erik Gruenwedel T he head of the actors’ union is reportedly confident members will vote to authorize a work stoppage against the studios and television producers despite the economic downturn. Alan Rosenberg, president of Screen Actors Guild (SAG), told Reuters Oct. 6 the union was seeking to end the 90-day stalemate with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). “No matter how hard times are, you can’t let fear and apprehension prompt you to trade away the future,” Rosenberg told Reuters. The 120,000-member union has been operating under the former labor deal that expired June 30. At issue is how actors will be compensated for new media, including the Internet, and whether Web-based productions fall under jurisdiction of the contract. Rosenberg also wants to revisit DVD residuals, an issue the studios have refused to broach, much to the chagrin of the SAG leader. Image Projects Revenue Jump By Erik Gruenwedel SUPPLIER Image Entertainment projects second-quarter fiscal year 2009 (ended Sept. 30) revenue to exceed $31 million, compared to $21.6 million during the prior-year period. Image expects revenue for the fiscal year to range from $115 million to $125 million. It also expects to post an undisclosed profit. The distributor separately signed a multiyear distribution agreement with Big Vision Entertainment. Among the titles acquired in the deal is the Sci Fi Channel series “Ghost Hunters.” Image Oct. 7 releases Ghost Hunters: Season 4 Vol. 1. Big Vision has Pauly Shore’s Natural Born Komics: Miami, Chick Fight Collection Gold Rush and Wrestling Vixens, among other titles. “Big Vision has a unique and marketable catalog of titles that cross many different popular genres,” said Bill Bromiley, Image’s chief acquisitions officer. First Look Studios Home Entertainment previously distributed select Big Vision DVD releases. TV DVD RELEASE TRENDS YEAR-TO-DATE, 2005-2008* 600 512 471 487 449 I NCIRCLE SPINS TAFFY NCircle Entertainment has expanded its distribution deal with animation entertainment company Taffy Entertainment, bringing Taffy’s new children’s series “Chloe’s Closet” to DVD. Previously NCircle and Taffy had worked together on the latter’s preschool “Dive Olly Dive!” series over the summer. The series follows a young girl who opens doors to new worlds while playing dress-up in her closet. The series is produced in 3-D CGI and Flash animation, and the stories add mathematical lessons along the way. – Chris Tribbey While the overall release pace for new DVD titles through the first week of October is down (mainly due to a very weak showing in the special interest area), there is one group that is on a record-setting pace. This would be the TV DVD, multiple-disc category. Releases of boxed sets of TV series are running 14% ahead of last year at this time (through the first week of October) and 5.1% ahead of the 2006 record-setting release pace. The top year for the multipledisc TV DVD category was 2006, in terms of title counts, with a total of 657 titles. New releases are on target for 690 in 2008. — Ralph Tribbey 500 400 300 200 100 0 250 Single-disc I Multiple-disc I * Results through the first week of October. I RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR DVD Titles in Release Through Week Ended Sept. 30, 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total Net DVD Titles Announced and/or In Release Through Mar. 31, 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90,883+304 91,497+208 I RELEASE ACTIVITY FOR BLU-RAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .As of Week Ended Sept. 30 Released 772 Scheduled 148 Home Media Magazine October 12–18, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 Contents News TV DVD Cine Mercado Reviews Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Contents (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Contents (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Contents (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - News (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - News (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Reviews (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Reviews (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Reviews (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Reviews (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 24) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 25) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 26) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 27) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 28) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - October 12-18, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover4)
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