Home Media Magazine - May 11-17, 2008 - (Page 12)

ELECTRONIC DELIVERY www.homemediamagazine.com Moves Beyond Music Zune, which has a superior platform for video By Erik Gruenwedel icrosoft said its Zune online service than iPod due to its ability to support more video will begin offering TV programming formats and faster transcoding. ª Now they have programs that iPod won' t get,º for its Zune portable media player, the Enderle said. ª Music remains the major driver PC and the Xbox 360 game system. Zune is expanding its video store to include for the product class and Apple outmarkets Mimore than 800 downloads of popular TV shows crosoft, but this is now one thing that gives from Comedy Central, Funimation Entertain- Microsoft an advantage. Not a big deal yet, but it ment, MTV, Nickelodeon, Starz Media (includ- could become one. ª Microsoft also upgraded its music offerings for ing Manga Entertainment), Turner BroadcastZune to make it easier to find ing, Ultimate Fighting Championship tracks and music videos from and VH1. its catalog of 2.5 million songs, Episodic programming, which 4,000 videos and 3,500 audio starts at $1.99 (similar to Apand video podcasts. ple Inc.' s iTunes), offers NBC Despite the inclusion of TV Universal content (not found programs, Ed Woo, analyst on iTunes), including ª The with Wedbush Morgan SeOffice,º ª Heroesº and ª 30 curities, said Zune would be Rock.º Other programs hard pressed to make much of an include ª South Park,º ª Afimpact in portable entertainment. ro Samurai,º ª The Hills,º ª Trying to play catch-up with Apple, ª SpongeBob SquarePants,º which has such an iron grip on the ª Battlestar Galactica,º portable music market, is hard to do,º ª Ghost in the Shell,º ª Street Woo said. ª [Zune] is a good player, but Fighter,º ª Metalocalypse,º Apple had a significant head start and ª Robot Chicken,º ª The has a loyal customer base.º Ultimate Fighterº and He said TV networks and studios ª Rock of Love.º ª30 Rockº have little problem disseminating conZune does not offer tent across multiple and often competmovie downloads. ª Partnering with Zune will allow us to develop ing channels such as Hulu, Amazon' s Unbox, innovative content offerings for their customers, iTunes and Zune, since each contribute increincluding flexible pricing and packaging options mental revenue and are not detrimental to TV beginning this fall,º said JB Perrette, president of advertising and DVD sales. ª Zune could have been the player,º Woo said. NBC Universal Digital Distribution. Rob Enderle, principal analyst with Enderle ª But it' s hard to catch up, especially to somebody Group, considered the deal an advantage for like Apple. They have the momentum.º ZUNE BRIEFS I HP ADDS YOUTUBE TO WEB-CONNECTED PRODUCTS Hewlett-Packard is making YouTube content available through its HP MediaSmart connected entertainment products, such as the upcoming MediaSmart Connect digital media receiver and the high-def MediaSmart TV. Viewers can log onto YouTube via the remote control and watch video content on HP MediaSmart products, as well as create playlists. The products aggregate digital media from multiple networked PCs into one menu for HDTV playback. ªWi th the addition of YouTube to the HP MediaSmart platform, consumers will have even more ways to enjoy the latest entertainment on the Internet,º said Carlos Montalvo, VP of marketing and services, connected entertainment business, HP. ªBr inging YouTube to HP MediaSmart products will let users browse and select a series of videos, then relax and ± Billy Gil enjoy the show on their big screens.º I SURVEY: MEDIA COMPANIES EMBRACE DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION In a new survey, 70% of media and entertainment executives said their companies derive incremental (less than 10%) revenue from online downloading and video-on-demand sites. The study, conducted by consulting ﬁrm Accenture, found that 65% of respondents believed multiple distribution channels will dominate over the next ﬁve years, compared to types of content (24%) and geographies (10%). Social media sites (68%) and short-form video (38%) will dominate. The report determined that 62% of respondents believe an advertising supported business model will spearhead online entertainment distribution, compared to 25% for subscription service and 11% for VOD. ± Erik Gruenwedel M Lycos Launches VOD Rentals By Chris Tribbey ycos Inc. has launched a videoon-demand rental option to its Lycos Cinemas service, the company announced at Digital Hollywood. Free, adsupported films and TV episodes are now also available. New additions to the service include National Lampoon's webisodes, classic game show episodes, and cartoon series from The Orchard and Classic Media. The new service has a viewing option that lets users watch video together from different locations and discuss what they'r e watching. ªO ur experience shows us that while film and TV fans welcome the increasing availability to view premium content online, they L also desire the social interaction that is inherent in today's Web as part of their viewing experience,º said Chuck Ball, VP of sales and marketing for Lycos. As part of the announcement, Lycos also has partnered with IndependentFeatures. com, where viewers of films can vote on their favorites. The top 21 films will receive an invite to the Independent Features Film Festival July 25-27 in New York City. Voting ends June 30. ªO ur vision is to create an online festival where filmmakers from all walks of life can submit their feature films to the festival and be judged on a global stage by a jury of their peers via a Web-based competition,º said Philip Nelson, president of IndependentFeatures.com. TOP 5 RANK TITLE E LE C T R O NI C SELLT H R OUG H Week ended May 3, 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 May 4, 2008 RELEASE DATE VIDEO LABEL GENRE 1 2 3 4 5 The Golden Compass 27 Dresses Cloverfield Dexter: Season 2 Ð Episode 1 Dexter: Season 2 Ð Episode 2 4/29/08 4/29/08 4/22/08 4/28/08 4/28/08 New Line Fox Paramount Showtime Showtime Fantasy Comedy Sci-Fi Drama Drama Source: Movielink 1 2 3 4 5 The Golden Compass 27 Dresses Cloverfield Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem Justice League: The New Frontier 4/29/08 4/29/08 4/22/08 4/15/08 2/26/08 New Line Fox Paramount Fox Warner Fantasy Comedy Sci-Fi Sci-Fi Animated Source: CinemaNow TOP 5 RANK TITLE E LE CT R O NIC D OW NLOAD S Week ended May 3, 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 May 4, 2008 RELEASE DATE VIDEO LABEL GENRE 1 2 3 4 5 I Am Legend Conspiracy Alvin and the Chipmunks Sleuth One Missed Call 4/17/08 5/2/08 4/30/08 4/25/08 4/22/08 Warner Sony Pictures Fox Sony Pictures Warner Sci-Fi Action Family Thriller Horror Source: Movielink 1 2 3 4 5 I Am Legend Dan in Real Life No Country for Old Men Hitman Enchanted 4/17/08 4/25/08 4/10/08 4/9/08 4/17/08 Warner Disney/Touchstone Disney/Miramax Fox Disney Sci-Fi Comedy Drama Action Fantasy Source: CinemaNow 12 Home Media Magazine May 11± 17, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://IndependentFeatures.com

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Home Media Magazine - May 11-17, 2008 Contents News News News News Commentary TV DVD Cine Mercado Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Christian Entertainment Review Contents Product Profile Talent Profile Retail Profile Reviews New Releases

Home Media Magazine - May 11-17, 2008

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