The top news and charts for week ending July 13, 2007 .
New PlayStation Portable to output to TV Studios approach sliding windows with caution Nintendo launching three new Wii peripherals |
"SHOOTER" leads Top DVD Renters Chart "SHOOTER" leads Top DVD Sellers Chart "BLOOD DIAMOND" leads Top HD DVD Sellers Chart "PLANET EARTH: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION" leads Top Blu-ray Sellers Chart |
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SWEETING: OPINION: Strategy game |
Netflix gets exclusive promotion of Californication
JULY 12 | Netflix subscribers will get a sneak peak of new Showtime series Californication three weeks before the show debuts on TV as part of an exclusive deal between the two companies.
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Best Buy promotes entertainment business executive
JULY 12 | Best Buy named Julie Owen senior VP of its entertainment business operating group, following a reorganization of its entertainment business last month. Owen replaces Gary Arnold, who was named last month to the newly created role of senior entertainment officer, where he will work to secure exclusive releases for the retailer.
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Netflix Watch Now reaches more than 5 million views
JULY 11 | Netflix subscribers have watched more than 5 million movies and TV shows online through the retailer's Watch Now movie service since it launched in January. The company is targeting 5,000 films online by year-end.
Full Story
DVD burning kiosks launch in airport stores
JULY 10 | Polar Frog Digital, a maker and distributor of MediaIgloo kiosks that burn DVDs on demand, has planted kiosks at the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Burbank, Calif., airports as part of a pilot program with airport store chain The Paradies Shops.
Full Story
TiVo, Amazon offer downloads straight to TVs
JULY 10 | A new update added today allows TiVo subscribers to download movies from Amazon.com Unbox directly through their TiVo boxes.
Full Story
Studios approach sliding windows with caution
JULY 13 | Most Hollywood studios remain cautious about collapsing the video-on-demand and DVD windows, despite Warner Home Video’s recent assertions that a simultaneous window helps DVD sell-through as well as VOD buy rates.
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Sony acquires Nickelodeon original films
JULY 13 | Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group has acquired DVD rights to six Nickelodeon original films in an effort to build the Sony Wonder label, which the studio recently took over from Sony BMG.
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Treasures DVD tackles social issues
JULY 12 | FROM VARIETY: The third DVD set in the National Film Preservation Foundation's Treasures From American Film Archives series will feature 48 early-20th century works that tackled social issues.
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Lionsgate invests in user-generated content site
JULY 11 | Lionsgate is the latest studio to enter the user-generated space, announcing Wednesday that it has made a strategic investment in online video site Break.com. Lionsgate said the partnership will open up new ways for the indie studio to distribute its TV and film content online.
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Xbox to offer digital rentals for Disney movies
JULY 11 | SANTA MONICA, Calif.—Microsoft Game Studios did not announce a price reduction for the Xbox 360 during its July 10 press event at the Electronic Entertainment Expo here. Instead, the division is placing its bets on a strong release slate of titles led by Halo 3 on Sept. 25 and an agreement with Disney-ABC Domestic Television making Walt Disney Studios films available for download via the Xbox Live online service.
Full Story
Warner offers fans entry into Clique
JULY 10 | Fans of book series The Clique can win a chance to be featured in Warner Premiere’s upcoming made-for-DVD adaptation of the teen girl franchise.
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Online Pirates game delayed until fall
JULY 9 | FROM VARIETY: Disney's online Pirates of the Caribbean videogame won't be setting sail for a few more months. Though it hasn’t confirmed a new date, Disney will most likely try to bring out the game around the time that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End comes out on DVD.
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Warner celebrates Jazz Singer with 80th anniversary edition
JULY 9 | On Oct. 16, Warner Home Video will debut the DVD of the studio’s 1927 landmark movie The Jazz Singer, which was the first feature-length film to have synchronized dialog and musical sequences.
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Navarre settles class action lawsuit
JULY 9 | Navarre Corp. has agreed to settle a pending securities class action suit filed against it and some of its former executives. The distributor’s proposed settlement is subject to certain conditions, including approval by the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.
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Format backers launch Blu-ray Web site
JULY 11 | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment are backing a new Web site aimed at steering high-definition consumers toward Blu-ray Disc. Objectively dubbed Hollywood in Hi-Def, the site is nonetheless a Blu-ray promotional vehicle.
Full Story
Samsung develops third-generation Blu-ray player
JULY 10 | Just months after streeting its second-generation Blu-ray Disc player, Samsung already has a third-generation version in the works. The company will display the model, the BD-P1400, during the 2007 IFA consumer electronics conference in Berlin on Aug. 31, confirmed a company representative.
Full Story
New PlayStation Portable to output to TV
JULY 12 | CULVER CITY, Calif.—Sony Corp. is expanding its PlayStation Portable handheld game console, positioning it more as a gaming unit than a media player. A version will be able to automatically output PSP films and games onto TVs and will be about 30% lighter and 20% slimmer than the original. Also, available in the fourth quarter will be a new PSP Entertainment Pack that bundles a silver PSP with the Daxter game.
Full Story
PlayStation 3 to get 200 new titles in 2008
JULY 11 | CULVER CITY, Calif.—To try to catch up to next-generation leaders Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 will boast 200 new titles in 2008 worldwide.
Full Story
Nintendo launching three new Wii peripherals
JULY 11 | SANTA MONICA, Calif.—With little expectation of tinkering with a winning formula, Nintendo at E3 concentrated on expanding on that formula with new Wii accessories and software. President Reggie Fils-Aime cited NPD FunWorld data to show that Nintendo's DS and Wii have led to 69% of all videogame industry growth.
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E3 a more serious affair
JULY 11 | SANTA MONICA, Calif.—Entertainment Software Assn. president Jim Ward admits that this year’s E3 feels strange. It is expected to draw just a fraction of the tens of thousands of people who normally descend upon the annual videogame conference. But Ward, president of LucasArts, is confident E3’s change is necessary to reflect the morphing gaming industry, which is trying to attract mainstream acceptance.
Full Story
Xbox to offer digital rentals for Disney movies
JULY 11 | SANTA MONICA, Calif.—Microsoft Game Studios did not announce a price reduction for the Xbox 360 during its July 10 press event at the Electronic Entertainment Expo here. Instead, the division is placing its bets on a strong release slate of titles led by Halo 3 on Sept. 25 and an agreement with Disney-ABC Domestic Television making Walt Disney Studios films available for download via the Xbox Live online service.
Full Story
Online Pirates game delayed until fall
JULY 9 | FROM VARIETY: Disney's online Pirates of the Caribbean videogame won't be setting sail for a few more months. Though it hasn’t confirmed a new date, Disney will most likely try to bring out the game around the time that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End comes out on DVD.
Full Story
Sony cuts PlayStation 3 price to $499
JULY 9 | On the eve of this year’s E3 videogame conference, Sony Computer Entertainment has slashed the price of its PlayStation 3 to $499. Also, Sony is trumpeting the August bow of a new 80GB PS3, priced at $599, which will be sold with online racing game Motorstorm. Like the 60GB $499 model, the 80GB PS3 features a Blu-ray Disc player and is engineered to provide sufficient storage for game downloads.
Full Story
Netflix Watch Now reaches more than 5 million views
JULY 11 | Netflix subscribers have watched more than 5 million movies and TV shows online through the retailer's Watch Now movie service since it launched in January. The company is targeting 5,000 films online by year-end.
Full Story
TiVo, Amazon offer downloads straight to TVs
JULY 10 | A new update added today allows TiVo subscribers to download movies from Amazon.com Unbox directly through their TiVo boxes.
Full Story
New PlayStation Portable to output to TV
JULY 12 | CULVER CITY, Calif.—Sony Corp. is expanding its PlayStation Portable handheld game console, positioning it more as a gaming unit than a media player. A version will be able to automatically output PSP films and games onto TVs and will be about 30% lighter and 20% slimmer than the original. Also, available in the fourth quarter will be a new PSP Entertainment Pack that bundles a silver PSP with the Daxter game.
Full Story
Format backers launch Blu-ray Web site
JULY 11 | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment are backing a new Web site aimed at steering high-definition consumers toward Blu-ray Disc. Objectively dubbed Hollywood in Hi-Def, the site is nonetheless a Blu-ray promotional vehicle.
Full Story
DVD burning kiosks launch in airport stores
JULY 10 | Polar Frog Digital, a maker and distributor of MediaIgloo kiosks that burn DVDs on demand, has planted kiosks at the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Burbank, Calif., airports as part of a pilot program with airport store chain The Paradies Shops.
Full Story
Samsung develops third-generation Blu-ray player
JULY 10 | Just months after streeting its second-generation Blu-ray Disc player, Samsung already has a third-generation version in the works. The company will display the model, the BD-P1400, during the 2007 IFA consumer electronics conference in Berlin on Aug. 31, confirmed a company representative.
Full Story
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