Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - (Page 28) NEWS Netflix Streams TV Shows, Movies on TiVo Continued from page 1 www.homemediamagazine.com TiVo, which has attempted to reinvent itself as a streaming player to combat competition from third-party DVRs, previously inked deals with YouTube, Amazon, CBS and ABC. Streaming selections are done through a Netflix queue-based user interface, which is automatically displayed on the TV via the TiVo service. Navigation of Netflix titles via a TiVo control is the primary concern of independent analyst Richard Doherty with The Envisioneering Group, an avid fan of the Roku set-top box. He said TiVo navigation is not compatible with the Netflix queues used on PCs, Roku and LG devices. In addition, to accommodate the processing power required to stream Netflix titles, Doherty said Roku and LG incorporated a proprietary MXP chip made by Intel. “TiVo may also have to use some kind of progressive download to allow their processor to convert the data,” Doherty said. “We are cautiously optimistic.” TiVo spokesperson Krista Wierzbicki said the navigational issue had required replacing the standard TiVo fast-forward, instant replay and rewind features with appropriate Netflix tools. She said processor requirements were no different than what TiVo faced with streaming YouTube videos. Netflix spokesperson Steve Swasey said the software required to stream titles via TiVo was identical to the other devices. Stacey Widlitz, analyst with Pali Research in New York, said increased distribution channels for Netflix streams could not ignore the requirement of a subscription, which she said is under pressure in the current economic slowdown compared to a la carte DVD rentals. “A subscription fee seems like an easy cost for consumers to eliminate in tough times,” Widlitz said in a note. A Smashing Debut Best Buy hosted a Guitar Hero World Tour VIP launch event Oct. 25 at a West Hollywood, Calif. store. Mark McGrath hosted the celebrity-studded event that featured an exclusive performance from Smashing Pumpkins (pictured), whose new song “G.L.O.W.” will first be made available to fans via the Guitar Hero World Tour game. Photo by: Chris Polk Imaging Rentail Could Get a Boost From Economy Continued from page 1 has an opportunity to significantly increase revenue during the downturn — a prospect Blockbuster alluded to when it said third-quarter domestic same-store sales increased 5.1%, with same-store rental revenue up 0.8%. “Sure, [rental is] not the cash cow of days past, but it’s still a viable alternative for someone who doesn’t have a lot of money to spend on entertainment,” he said. Kirk Kirkpatrick of Kentucky-based wholesaler WaxWorks, which caters to smaller retailers in the Midwest, said his company sent retailers promotional posters outlining the benefits of movie rentals compared to other forms of entertainment. “People can see a value of renting a movie,” he said. “I’m not going to say that we’re going to grow [revenue] in the fourth quarter, but there is potential for hopefulness.” Overall, home entertainment appears to be holding up better than most other industries. Home Media Magazine’s market research department estimates that consumer spending on home entertainment, sales and rentals combined, in the first nine months of this year was down just 2.6% from the same period last year, to $14.7 billion. Sellthrough was off 3.2%, with a 5.7% decline in DVD sales offset somewhat by a 319.2% gain in Blu-ray Disc sales (to about $315 million). Rental was down 1.4% for the nine-month period ended Sept. 30. So far, fourth-quarter DVD sales have been a mixed bag. The season got off to a slow start when Warner Home Video’s Sex and the City: The Movie sold less than what had been expected, studio sources say, but the subsequent week Paramount Home Entertainment’s Iron Man sold 7.2 million DVDs and more than 500,000 Blu-ray Discs. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was another underperformer, studio sources say, while The Incredible Hulk sold remarkably well, moving nearly 2 million units its first day alone. Still, Kirkpatrick said the threshold of reasoning for purchases among consumers is at the lowest point since he’s been in the business. He said retailers tell him consumers are scrutinizing $20 purchases. “They are looking at everything,” Kirkpatrick said. “It’s not just looking for cheaper gas. I mean they are really worried.” Packaged media isn’t alone. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index this week fell to 38 (from a possible 100), the lowest level since the research firm began tracking consumer habits in 1967. The index, which is based on the consumer habits of 5,000 U.S. households, was at 95.2 during the same period last year. “The impact of the financial crisis over the last several weeks has clearly taken a toll on consumers’ confidence,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board consumer research center. “This news does not bode well for retailers who are already bracing for what is shaping up to be a very challenging holiday season.” Zaganiacz said fourth-quarter sales would likely disappoint, despite the flood of major studio titles entering the holidays. “I would not be surprised to hear studios lowering their [sales] goals,” Zaganiacz said. “The economy is tough, money is tight … consumers don’t have the funds to buy them all.” He applauded Lionsgate and Sony for holding back releases of some key titles, including Pineapple Express, until January. The Consumer Electronics Association predicted sales of its industry’s products would grow 3.5% in the fourth quarter, about half the sales growth seen in 2007. It said GPS devices, in-car video, mobile phones and audio/video products would be the top sellers. DVD Forum Hits Reset Button Continued from page 1 always argued, from a physical spec choice, was better. Those logical factors don’t always play out.” Waring lamented the death of HD DVD during the Forum’s session at Digital Hollywood Oct. 29, partly because of the effect it’s had on the Forum’s industry-perceived importance: Last year while the format war was still raging, this session drew a nice crowd. “We’re obviously resetting,” Waring said. “We still have 120 active companies; 96% of media sales are DVD. It’s still the main delivery format. There are 1.5 billion devices [that play DVD]. It’s still appealing to studios and consumers.” Next up, the DVD Forum is working on an industry standard for digital copies of movies, which content owners beyond the studios have started L ATE F L ASHES I COMCAST Q3 UP Comcast Corp. Oct. 29 reported Q3 (ended Sept. 30) net income of $771 million, up 38% from $560 million during the prior-year period. Video revenue increased 4% to $4.7 billion, which included a 9% jump in PPV revenue. Overall revenue increased 10% to $8.5 billion, from $7.7 billion last year. — Erik Gruenwedel Explicit iLLS and the thriller Two: Thirteen. Peace Arch will showcase the films at the American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica, Calif., Nov. 5-12. Additionally Peace Arch will world premiere Goal 3: Taking On The World at AFM. — Billy Gil To remedy the situation, Circuit City shares must exceed $1 over a 30-day period within six months of the notice. Failure to do so could result in delisting of the stock from the NYSE. — Erik Gruenwedel I CIRCUIT CITY RECEIVES WARNING FROM NYSE Circuit City Stores Oct. 30 said it received notice from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that its common stock shares failed to meet the minimum $1 threshold for 30 consecutive business days ending Oct. 22. I STUDY: CONSUMERS PREFER ONLINE CE STORES Consumer Reports’ latest study (Nov. 4 issue) shows Amazon.com and Crutchfield. com standing out as online retailers that consumers turn to for electronics. Independent retailers are doing better than their big-box counterparts. — Chris Tribbey I PEACE ARCH NABS FILMS Peace Arch Entertainment Group has acquired international distribution rights to the dark comedy Nobel Son, the drama to include on DVDs. Each studio handles digital copies in a different way, including different PC or Mac versions of the film on the discs. “It’s currently kind of a mess,” Waring said. “It’s good because it discourages people from stealing, but they have to put multiple copies on there. The concept should be ‘Buy a movie, you get to watch it wherever you want.’” For 3-D the Forum is working to create optional specifications for the transfer of information to either a display or a third-party device. In the download-to-burn and manufacture-on-demand arena, the Forum is halfway there. Newly burned DVDs can be ordered via Amazon.com. Doit-yourself computer drives from Dell and Pioneer are available, with CinemaNow as their online partner. Retail kiosks — where consumers can order ahead of time or while they shop — and fully independent standalone at-home manufacturing-on-demand DVD burners are coming soon. “We think it’s a particularly interesting model,” Julia Cutler of Sonic Solutions said of the PC drives. “It’s the flexibility of having the digital file and the DVD … the inverse of [digital copies].” The Forum is still perfecting its DVD-R for download, working to make sure discs burned on the fly will play in almost every DVD player. For the Content Scramble System that’s to be used on newly recorded DVDs, the Forum is awaiting answers to technical questions from the DVD Copy Control Association. 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. 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Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 Home Media Magazine - November 2, 2008 Contents News News News TV DVD Independent Film Reviews Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Christian Entertainment Review Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 2, 2008 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 2, 2008 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 2, 2008 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 2, 2008 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 2, 2008 (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 2, 2008 (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 2, 2008 (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 2, 2008 (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Contents (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - News (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - News (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - News (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Independent Film (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Independent Film (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Reviews (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Reviews (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Reviews (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Reviews (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 24) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 25) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 26) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 27) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 28) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - November 2-November 8, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover4)
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