-
Downloads
April 8, 2010
April 8, 2010
April 8, 2010
April 8, 2010
Featured Bloggers
Former Fox Exec: Studios’ DVD Woes Are ‘Self-Imposed’
Bill Mechanic, former Chairman/CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, blames much of the home entertainment market’s current troubles on several years of “bad decision making” in his keynote at the Independent Film & Television Production Conference. By Deadline Hollywood Daily
Shake-Up At Digital Music Distributor The Orchard
The Orchard’s CEO Greg Scholl exits, as the indie music distributor, bracing for “slow growth,” lays off 20% of its staff. By paidContent
Warner Tests VOD Ahead Of DVD
Looking to boost video-on-demand revenues without cutting into DVD business, Warner Home Video conducts an Atlanta-area market test with two films: Observe and Report and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. By Video Business
Pearl Jam’s Target Exclusive Tops Chart
The band sits atop Billboard’s Top 200 chart this week with 189,000 units sold of its Target-exclusive album, Backspacer. That’s roughly half the number of units it took Pearl Jam to earn its last No. 1 record in 1996 (No Code, 367,000 copies). By Billboard
Game Crazy Shuttering 200 Stores
Tough times continue for brick-and-mortar entertainment retail. On the heels of Blockbuster’s store closure announcement, videogame retailer Game Crazy reportedly plans to close 200 locations nationwide by Oct. 31. Chain owner Movie Gallery has not yet released a statement.  But game news site Joystiq publishes a timetable for liquidation that it putports to have confirmed with store employees. By Joystiq
Wal-Mart Stores Cut DVD Display Space: WSJ
Pressing forward with a corporate initiative to reduce merchandising clutter, Wal-Mart is doing away with promotional display cases for new DVD releases, according to a Wall Street Journal report (registration required).
The report offers few specifics on how Wal-Mart’s “Project Impact,” announced late last year, affects DVD and Blu-ray retail, not to mention music and videogame merchandising. But the past two years have seen some obvious shifts in strategy.
For one, most of Wal-Mart’s 3,500-plus stores have a Redbox kiosk installed somewhere near their entrance. Individual outlets have begun to use free movie rentals as a promotional lure for shoppers.
In addition, Wal-Mart has put much of its entertainment merchandising efforts into exclusive deals and store-within-a-store concepts involving other products. Last October, the retailer marketed an exclusive AC/DC album from Columbia Records together with MTV Games’ Rock Band 2, T-shirts, and other apparel. This month, stores have targeted moms with “family night centers” that offer discount Disney DVDs alongside board games from Hasbro, Doritos snacks, and Pepsi beverages. And next week, stores will open “KISS Korners” in electronics departments and Halloween aisles, selling an exclusive three-disc CD/DVD set from the band along with branded T-shirts, Mr. Potato Head toys, fleece blankets, M&M candies, wigs and makeup kits, and last but not least, discount catalog CDs.
Going Green: Next Steps For The DVD Industry
Time was a DVD had the same carbon footprint as a hamburger. But by reducing the amount plastics and paper in the consumer DVD package, U.S. studios and replicators have brought the carbon footprint down by 11% in the past two years, says Disney’s Edwin Van der Meerendonk.
Van der Meerendonk, VP European Operations for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, gave an overview of the industry’s green initiatives to date at last week’s Entertainment Supply Chain conference in London. The executive also chairs a supply chain efficiencies committee for the European branch of the Digital Entertainment Group, through which the U.S. studios have shared their best green practices.
With only 4% of U.S. DVD consumers throwing away disc cases, according to research, Van der Meerendonk notes that durability of the case continues to take precedence over recyclability. That said, studios are now developing disc cases made from 100% recycled materials, while looking for further reductions of the case weight.
Studios are also  reviewing what Van der Meerendonk terms “the transport piece” of the DVD business. Efficiencies here can include the elimination of outer shipping cartons — as Sony already has done, he points out — and the optimization of shipping routes. Digital Entertainment Group
Sony Says ‘No Go’ On PSP Game Conversion
Playstation Portable fans will not be able to transfer games from UMD discs onto their new PSPgo system, when the all-digital deck launches Oct. 1. Sony Computer Entertainment America had mulled offering consumers a migration path, but for now, it will stick with a dual-format marketing strategy. By CNET
iPhone/iPod Touch: One-Third Of Handheld Games By 2012?
Bernstein Research today offers some numbers on what Apple’s  iPhone and iPod Touch could mean for the current handheld videogame market. As many as 670 million games were downloaded from the App Store in the past 12 months. By 2012, the research firm says, Apple could claim a one-third share of all handheld videogames. The kicker: paid games on the App store have an average price of $2.50, compared to $34 for the average DS card or PSP disc. By Barron’s
Warner Music Returning To YouTube
It looks like Warner Music Group will finally get the opportunity to monetize YouTube video views, as part of a new licensing deal that could bring videos from Gnarls Barkley, Green Day, and others back to the Google site as early as the end of the year. Warner pulled its artists from the site in late 2008, seeking a cut of advertising revenue. The new agreement, announced today, includes plans for a “premium” video player and “enhanced” channels on the site. Warner also will retain the right to sell ads alongside its videos and keep the bulk of the proceeds, according to reports. Warner Music Group
Industry Events
Content Protection
Stay Connected
