The top news and charts for week ending September 28, 2007.
Blockbuster lays off 145 employees Record low DVD prices at retail Wal-Mart studies environmental impact of DVD distribution |
Stone and son chat up Alexander |
"WE ARE MARSHALL" leads Top DVD Renters Chart "WE ARE MARSHALL" leads Top DVD Sellers Chart "WE ARE MARSHALL" leads Top HD DVD Sellers Chart "WE ARE MARSHALL" leads Top Blu-ray Sellers Chart |
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SWEETING: No high-def tipping point |
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MAGIERA: Win some, lose some |
Hastings expands Blu-ray rental with sharing
SEPT. 28 | Hastings Entertainment has significantly expanded Blu-ray Disc rental in all 150 of its stores following a revenue-sharing deal with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
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Heartbreakers run only to Best Buy
SEPT. 28 | Best Buy will be the exclusive retailer for four-disc set Runnin’ Down a Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers starting October 16.
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Record low DVD prices at retail
SEPT. 28 | Leading retailers including Target and Circuit City have recently advertised a wide selection of popular catalog features discounted to $3.99, a price point that is seen as a new low in a period other than the fourth quarter.
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Best Buy reshuffles management
SEPT. 28 | Best Buy has shuffled its management team again.Shari Ballard has been named executive VP retail channel management, just several months after she got new responsibilities, including entertainment oversight, in June.
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Blockbuster signs outsider to ship through distribution center
SEPT. 28 | Seeking to turn a cost center into a profit generator, Blockbuster Video has begun offering packaging, storage and distribution services to outside companies from its McKinney, Texas, distribution center.
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Blockbuster lays off 145 employees
SEPT. 28 | Blockbuster Video last week cut 145 employees, representing 11% of its corporate headquarters staff, in an effort to streamline its infrastructure.
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Blockbuster gets exclusive 1408 extras
SEPT. 28 | Blockbuster has lined up an online game and exclusive DVD bonus features for its rental release of Weinstein/Genius’s 1408.
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Wal-Mart studies environmental impact of DVD distribution
SEPT. 25 | Wal-Mart is partnering with the Carbon Disclosure Project on a pilot program that will study the amount of energy used to bring products including DVDs to its store shelves.
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Movie Gallery confirms store closings
SEPT. 25 | UPDATE: As part of an accelerated effort to conserve cash and reduce its cost structure in an attempt to alleviate its financial difficulties, Movie Gallery confirmed it is closing 520 stores.
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Monterey sets events-filled Dalai Lama promotion
SEPT. 28 | Monterey Media is organizing a nationwide “Weekend of Unity and Peace” to raise awareness for the film 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama, which comes to DVD Oct. 23.
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First Look hires former Blockbuster Online exec
SEPT. 26 | Kevin Sullivan has been named VP of home entertainment marketing at First Look Studios. Most recently, Sullivan worked as director of product for Blockbuster Online.
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Palm readies Marley documentary
SEPT 26 | FROM VARIETY: Palm Pictures has acquired Africa Unite, a documentary about the family of the late Bob Marley and their first trip to Ethiopia. The 2005 Africa Unite event, led by the singer's widow, Rita Marley, included a 12-hour concert attended by 300,000 people.
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Autumn brings TV on DVD harvest
SEPT. 25 | FROM VARIETY: In addition to the annual return of scripted fare to the major networks, early autumn now kicks off primetime for DVD releases of current TV shows. Over the next few months, studios will flood the market with full-season sets of dozens of shows still airing on the Big Five.
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Pay cablers promote DVD sampling
SEPT. 25 | FROM VARIETY: Pay outlets like HBO and Showtime have to approach the TV-on-DVD money tree with a little more caution than the broadcast networks do. But premium providers insist that DVD boxed sets can -- and do -- contribute to the bottom line while attracting new customers to their monthly services.
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Can TV boost disc business?
SEPT. 25 | FROM VARIETY: If you're searching for an analogy to describe the still-potent TV-on-DVD market, look no further than NBC Universal Studios Home Entertainment's Heroes. TV-on-DVD titles alone may not be able to single-handedly lift the mature DVD biz into growth this year. But once in a while -- like young protagonists on Heroes -- tube-based releases show off impressive abilities.
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Winter heat wave for DVDs
SEPT. 24 | FROM VARIETY: The summer box-office broke records, which confounded dire predictions and brought a shot of much-needed adrenalin to Hollywood. Now the big question is whether the declining DVD business can get a similar boost when those movies debut in the fourth quarter.
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HD DVD giving away high-def home makeover
SEPT. 28 | The HD DVD North American Promotional Group is looking to award a $25,000 high-definition home makeover.
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Hastings expands Blu-ray rental with sharing
SEPT. 28 | Hastings Entertainment has significantly expanded Blu-ray Disc rental in all 150 of its stores following a revenue-sharing deal with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Full Story
Home Theater Specialists group backs Blu-ray
SEPT. 24 | ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Home Theater Specialists of America (HTSA), the $500 million buying group for A/V specialty dealers and installers, has formally confirmed that it is backing Blu-ray Disc technology based on sales trends among its 62 members.
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Halo 3 nabs $170 million on first day
SEPT. 27 | FROM VARIETY: Videogames don't exactly have opening weekends, but if they did, Halo 3 just crushed them all. Sci-fi action sequel bowed to a boffo $170 million in the U.S. on Tuesday, its first day on sale.
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Halo 3 lacks innovation
SEPT. 25 | FROM VARIETY: Microsoft's marketing slogan for Halo 3 is "finish the fight," but it could more appropriately be "don't mess with success."
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Companies move ahead with DVD burning plans
SEPT. 27 | Disc-burning kiosk companies and movie download services are moving forward with plans for on-demand DVD burning following the DVD Copy Control Assn. approval last week of on-demand manufacturing using CSS encryption.
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Home Theater Specialists group backs Blu-ray
SEPT. 24 | ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Home Theater Specialists of America (HTSA), the $500 million buying group for A/V specialty dealers and installers, has formally confirmed that it is backing Blu-ray Disc technology based on sales trends among its 62 members.
Full Story
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