Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - (Page 8) HIGH-DEF Blu-ray Strong Despite Negative Perception Continued from page 1 www.homemediamagazine.com John Richards, SVP of worldwide creative services for Warner Home Video, said his studio’s HD DVD of Blood Diamond came with an interactive map feature he thought was fascinating, but got almost no use at all. Learning from their experiences, Richards said Warner is focusing on polls, downloads and features that consumers will use, such as a Web-com commentary feature for the Dec. 9 Blu-ray release of The Dark Knight, which will let users record their own commentary and upload it to the Web. And the first 100,000 Dark Knight Blu-ray owners who register will be able to interact via BD Live with director Christopher Nolan, only the second time after Universal’s Hellboy II (See story below) that a Blu-ray movie will try this. Panelists agreed, however, that while BD Live is compelling and offers wide-ranging options for the future, the main draw for Blu-ray is still the picture and sound quality. If Japan is any indication, the format can only go up: a report from Japanese Electronics and Information Technology Industries shows Blu-ray accounting for 31% of all home entertainment recorder and player sales. And there’s promising research from The NPD Group: nine out of 10 U.S. households know what Blu-ray is, and 58% of people who said they were in the market for a Blu-ray player are buying one because of their HDTVs. Studios Enticing Consumers The great test is whether consumers will adopt Blu-ray and replace DVD collections. And studio representatives agree the consumers will decide what direction Blu-ray takes. “There’s just a lot we can do,” said Rich Marty, VP of business development for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. “We can really reinvent the category.” Danny Kaye, EVP of global research and technology strategy for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, said the titles Fox is releasing on Blu-ray — mostly action and new theatrical films — are geared for early adopters. Chris Saito, VP of marketing for Paramount Home Entertainment, said his studio is seeing traction with family films, though he conceded the main demographic is 25- to 49-year-old males. Lori MacPherson, North American GM for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, said the 1,000-DVD collector is a “prime candidate” for converting to Blu-ray, even though cheaper upconverting DVD players may seduce them. “It doesn’t matter if something’s cheap, if it’s not attractive to you,” Saito said. MacPherson agreed: “It’s the difference between costume jewelry and a diamond.” Studio representatives agreed Bluray is one of many distribution channels, but only Blu-ray is capable of delivering 1080p picture and the best 7.1 audio codecs. And, he added, Blu-ray is the only format that will be capable of delivering 3-D films close to the way they appear in theaters. “You should never lose sight of the fact it never happens overnight,” Kaye said of the hopeful consumer transition from DVD to Blu-ray. But some consumers already are hooked. “You can’t go backwards,” said consumer panelist Michael Chen, who owns thousands of DVDs and hundreds of Blu-rays. “You can’t undo good quality. I’ve gotten accustomed to the high-def stuff. I just tolerate DVD.” Consumer panelist Gregg Loewen agreed, adding that even if digital delivery can eventually provide 1080p downloads, “I want to own my content. I don’t want to download it.” Parsons, SVP of advanced product development for Pioneer Electronics. “It’s just not going to happen … my company is really not going after that impulse-buy person at this point.” Both Parsons and Tony Jasionowski, senior group manager for Panasonic, warned that while Blu-ray hardware prices will hit new lows on Black Friday, it doesn’t mean those prices are going to stay low. Eric Don-Jordan with Best Buy said his Los Angeles-area store is stocking more standalone Blu-ray players, and promoting them more than the PlayStation 3. He predicted that Black Friday “is gonna kill,” predicting consumers snapping up low-end standalone players for as little as $129, and players from companies such as Sony and Samsung for just under $200. BD Live and Other Extras The studios have done plenty of experimenting with Blu-ray, including digital copies, extra BD Live features and even including a standard DVD. Russ Crupnick, VP and senior industry analyst of The NPD Group, said 40% of consumers would buy catalog titles on Blu-ray if new features are available, and 80% of consumers say BD Live features interest them. Rewards points, updated trailers and new scenes are attractive BD Live features, while games, chat and shopping were less popular. But that shouldn’t stop content creators from experimenting with new BD Live features, Crupnick said. “Sometimes a consumer actually has to experience something before he can get excited about it,” he said. (L-R): Actress Selma Blair, Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s Hilary Hoffman and director Guillermo del Toro at the DVD and Blu-ray release party for Universal Studios’ Hellboy II: The Golden Army, held Nov. 11 at Element in Hollywood. Photo: 2008 FilmMagic DEL TORO PART OF A BD LIVE FIRST By Chris Tribbey Blu-ray vs. DVD Now that HD DVD isn’t competing with Blu-ray, the goal for hardware companies and retailers selling Bluray is to compete against DVD. But the two can’t agree on how to do that. “Here we are two years into Bluray, and everyone’s expecting the prices to be the same as DVD,” said the Blu-ray Disc Association’s Andy H OLLYWOOD — Guillermo del Toro knows his high-definition. The “Hellboy” films director speaks easily and authoritatively about bit rates, audio codecs, storage capacity and BD Live. Maybe that’s why he seems so comfortable taking part in a Blu-ray Disc first: del Toro will chat via BD Live with fans Nov. 23 while they watch the Blu-ray of Hellboy II. And he seems genuinely excited about it. “It will be like having a living commen- tary,” he said Nov. 11 at the launch party for the movie. “Blu-ray is a very young format, and there is a very real opportunity online … not to educate, that’s a very patronizing word, but to experience.” Hilary J. Hoffman, SVP of brand and digital marketing for Universal Studios Home Entertainment, said del Toro worked harder than most creating and supervising the Blu-ray extras. For more on this story, see homemediamagazine.com TOP 20 HIGH-DEF BLU-R AY D ISC Week ended November 9, 2008 LABEL INDEX* TOP 20 HIGH-DEF B D M A R K E T S HA R E Percentage of Sales Per Title vs DVD Week ended November 9, 2008 LABEL PERCENT TITLE TITLE B LU-R AY D I S C C O M I NG U P STREETING Awake Genius/Weinstein Sisterhood of the Warner Southland Tales Sony Pictures Tropic Thunder Paramount Wall-E Disney PREBOOKING Street Date: 11/18 Traveling Street Date: 11/18 Street Date: 11/18 Street Date: 11/18 Street Date: 11/18 Burn After Reading Universal Pre: 11/18, Street: 12/23 The Women Warner Pre: 11/18, Street: 12/23 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Get Smart Journey to the Center of the Earth The Incredible Hulk Iron Man Kung Fu Panda Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal … Tinker Bell I Am Legend 300 Transformers Batman Begins Sleeping Beauty: 50th Anniversary Platinum … The Polar Express: Presented in 3-D Futurama: Bender’s Game Planet Earth: The Complete Series Juno Casino Royale: Collector’s Edition The Departed Troy: Director’s Cut The Strangers Warner 100.00 Warner 70.28 Universal 63.56 Paramount 59.53 Para./DreamWorks 44.56 Paramount 36.65 Disney 21.36 Warner 19.59 Warner 17.30 Para./DreamWorks 17.11 Warner 15.70 Disney 14.90 Warner 14.84 Fox 13.81 BBC Video 12.71 Fox 10.89 Sony Pictures 10.55 Warner 9.61 Warner 7.94 Universal 7.49 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Troy: Director’s Cut Casino Royale: Collector’s Edition The Departed 300 I Am Legend Juno Planet Earth: The Complete Series Transformers Batman Begins Iron Man The Polar Express: Presented in 3-D The Incredible Hulk Journey to the Center of the Earth Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal … Sleeping Beauty: 50th Anniversary Platinum … Get Smart The Strangers Futurama: Bender’s Game Kung Fu Panda Tinker Bell Warner Sony Pictures Warner Warner Warner Fox BBC Video Para./DreamWorks Warner Paramount Warner Universal Warner Paramount Disney Warner Universal Fox Para./DreamWorks Disney 59.78% 56.66% 55.37% 52.84% 41.36% 39.74% 35.77% 26.98% 24.01% 19.52% 18.57% 18.31% 13.52% 9.56% 9.00% 8.07% 7.68% 6.40% 5.55% 2.78% *Units sold compared to No. 1 title Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Source: Nielsen VideoScan First Alert data Home Media Magazine November 16–22, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 Home Media Magazine - November 16, 2008 Contents News HD-3 TV DVD Valentine’s Day Reviews Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 16, 2008 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 16, 2008 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 16, 2008 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - November 16, 2008 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Contents (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - News (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - News (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - News (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - News (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - HD-3 (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - HD-3 (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - HD-3 (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - HD-3 (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - HD-3 (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - HD-3 (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Valentine’s Day (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Valentine’s Day (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Valentine’s Day (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Valentine’s Day (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Reviews (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Reviews (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Reviews (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Reviews (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 24) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 25) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 26) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 27) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 28) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 29) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 30) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 31) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 32) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - November 16-22, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover4)
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