It’s a wide, wild world
Sorry, no blogs are active for this topic.
Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium star Zach Mills was named best emerging actor at the KIDS FIRST! award show in Malibu on Oct. 7.
Arts Alliance America recently held a screening of Run Granny Run with film star Doris “Granny D” Haddock in Keen, N.H.
Sony and Reef Check celebrated the DVD release of Surf’s Up at Malibu Bluffs Park in Malibu, Calif., on Oct. 6.
» VIEW ALL GALLERIES
» VIEW FEATURED GALLERY
By Marcy Magiera -- Video Business, 5/18/2007
MAY 18 | Readers may have noticed how we’ve been mixing it up recently. This week’s print issue includes two special sections produced in conjunction with our sister magazines, TWICE (High-Def and DVD Software Guide) and Playthings (DVD for Kids). Last week’s magazine carried a feature section on the library market, done with Library Journal.
These cooperative sections do have a larger purpose than demonstrating our commitment to the corporate value of “boundarylessness” (more on that another time). They reflect the reality that home entertainment is reaching consumers through an increasingly wide array of distribution points outside the traditional retail channels. This is important for program suppliers and also for retailers trying to fully understand and best position themselves in a rapidly changing market.
Given the market power of Best Buy and Circuit City, the importance of the consumer electronics channel to DVD sales is clear.
Newer—and growing—is the potential impact of the toy channel led by Toys ‘R’ Us, which just three years ago aggressively expanded its merchandising of DVD. With the role that videogame consoles are playing in the adoption of high-def DVD—PS3 is the leading Blu-ray player in homes, and the Xbox HD DVD add-on represents a significant percentage of HD DVD players sold—it stands to reason that toy merchants may increase their clout in the home entertainment sector.
It’s true that toy stores and libraries have been some of the last supporters of the essentially defunct VHS format, but in Santa Monica, Calif., near my home, the library has 5,700 movies in its collection and brings in every new release that took in more than $5 million at the box office. It buys 10 copies or more of some films. Every retailer operating in a neighborhood with a strong local library ought to be aware of what is being stocked there.
In addition, libraries are ahead of most indie video retailers in providing digital downloads of movies to their patrons, free of transaction fees.
Retailers large and small are trying to figure out how to get a piece of the download business and fear it being controlled by content holders using the Internet as a direct line to retailers. Just as likely is that Internet downloads will result in a proliferation of competitors and more points of distribution for films than ever before. Just think about full-length sports documentaries, game highlights and instructional programs on the Web site of a sporting goods retailer or athletic apparel marketer; a health-themed film like Super Size Me on your HMO or drug store’s home page; travel films on airline sites.
Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target and iTunes are a lot to compete with, but traditional home entertainment retailers, rental and sell-through have a lot more to compete with as well.
VB wants to be the resource for sorting it all out.
