The top news and charts for week ending April 4, 2008 .
Store rentals down by 2010 Studios see opportunity to turn green to gold Sony releases budget-sized TV DVD packaging |
"I AM LEGEND" leads Top DVD Renters Chart "I AM LEGEND" leads Top DVD Sellers Chart "AMERICAN GANGSTER" leads Top HD DVD Sellers Chart "I AM LEGEND" leads Top Blu-ray Sellers Chart |
| ||
 |
SWEETING: OPINION: Disc changer |
Higgins extends deadline to take Trans World private
APRIL 4 | Trans World Entertainment CEO Robert Higgins has re-confirmed his desire to the take the retail chain private, extending the deadline to May 31 in order to get approvals for the transaction.
Full Story
OPINION: Disc changer
Paul Sweeting is editor of Content Agenda
APRIL 4 | Comcast and BitTorrent struck an agreement to develop new network management practices that don’t involve throttling BitTorrent traffic. Whether the agreement will actually resolve anything, however, was not immediately clear.
Full Story
Store rentals down by 2010
APRIL 4 | In-store DVD rental revenue will account for less than half of all rental revenue by 2010 as Netflix, Blockbuster and other DVD by mail services take over a growing share of the market, according to a new Convergence Consulting Group report entitled “The Battle for the American Couch Potato: New Challenges and Opportunities in the Content Market.”
Full Story
Movie Gallery to close 160 more stores
APRIL 3 | Movie Gallery announced it will close about 160 more underperforming Hollywood Video and Movie Gallery stores.
Full Story
Best Buy reports weak Q4 results
APRIL 3 | FROM TWICE: Best Buy reported declines in its fourth-quarter profits and same-store sales amid an economic climate that
Full Story
Wattles to Circuit's board: Ditch Schoonover
APRIL 3 | FROM TWICE: Wattles Capital Management, one of the largest independent stockholders of Circuit City Stores, delivered a letter signed by Ultimate Electronics owner Mark Wattles to the struggling chain’s board of directors, seeking a series of major changes to the corporate structure including the replacement of chairman and CEO Philip Schoonover and a change in the company’s retail strategy.
Full Story
Wal-Mart pushes green DVDs in April
APRIL 2 | As part of Wal-Mart’s “Earth Month” campaign for April, the company is promoting more than 120 CDs and DVDs, ranging from the Al Gore environmental documentary An Inconvenient Truth to The Very Best of KISS.
Full Story
Jamie Kennedy to host EMA Awards
APRIL 2 | Actor and writer Jamie Kennedy will host the Entertainment Merchants Assn.’s Home Entertainment Awards Show in Las Vegas June 24.
Full Story
Blockbuster pitches ‘Access’ to sports fans
APRIL 2 | Blockbuster is boosting primetime TV advertising for its Total Access online-rental service about six weeks after competitor Netflix raised its subscriber forecast and four months after Blockbuster raised Total Access subscription rates to cut losses on the program.
Full Story
Borders to open 16 concept stores this year
APRIL 1 | Borders this year will open 16 concept stores designed to distinguish the chain, with book downloading stations and state-of-the-art LCD screens running DVD clips.
Full Story
Navarre lifts Fleck to president
APRIL 4 | Joyce Fleck has been named president of Navarre Distribution Services.
Full Story
OPINION: Disc changer
Paul Sweeting is editor of Content Agenda
APRIL 4 | Comcast and BitTorrent struck an agreement to develop new network management practices that don’t involve throttling BitTorrent traffic. Whether the agreement will actually resolve anything, however, was not immediately clear.
Full Story
New Line to wind down after Rewind
APRIL 4 | New Line Home Entertainment titles will begin to be marketed by Warner Home Video beginning with April 25 theatrical release Harold and Kumar Escape to Guantanamo Bay, according to sources, as parent Time Warner folds the DVD unit and its theatrical sister division into the Warner Bros. Entertainment infrastructure.
Full Story
Echo Bridge acquires Alliance Atlantis library
APRIL 3 | Echo Bridge Entertainment has acquired worldwide distribution rights to the entire library of Alliance Atlantis International Distribution from Goldman Sachs Capital Partners.
Full Story
Studios see opportunity to turn green to gold
APRIL 3 | LOS ANGELES—The DVD industry took a step toward developing standards for eco-friendly DVD manufacturing, packaging, shipping and marketing at the first Green Media Summit here yesterday.
Full Story
Koch to deliver tween hit Life With Derek to DVD
APRIL 3 | Koch Vision has signed on to distribute Shaftesbury Films’ Life With Derek on DVD this fourth quarter.
Full Story
Image signs distribution deal for cruise lines, colleges
APRIL 3 | Image Entertainment has partnered with Swank Motion Pictures on an alternative distribution deal.
Full Story
Image adds Bromiley, raises Eiberg in top ranks
APRIL 3 | One the heels of its new corporate leadership, Image Entertainment has added Bill Bromiley and Rick Eiberg to its top ranks as chief acquisitions officer and executive VP of operations/chief technology officer, respectively.
Full Story
Sony releases budget-sized TV DVD packaging
APRIL 3 | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is introducing new budget packaging for its complete series sets, in an effort to squeeze growth out of the aging TV DVD genre.
Full Story
NBC bringing shows to the Web
APRIL 3 | FROM VARIETY: Now that issues revolving around scribes and the Internet have been cleared for the time being, NBC Digital Entertainment is moving Peacock properties online in a big way.
Full Story
DEG unveils Green Entertainment Awards
APRIL 2 | The DEG handed out seven Green Entertainment Awards today at the inaugural Green Media Summit, held at the Luxe Hotel in Los Angeles.
Full Story
Alvin sells 2.6 million on DVD, Blu-ray on first day
APRIL 2 | Alvin and the Chipmunks has hit a high note for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, selling 2.6 million copies in its first day of release on DVD and Blu-ray Disc.
Full Story
Sony to distribute Anchor Bay DVDs overseas
APRIL 1 | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has signed on to exclusively distribute Anchor Bay Entertainment content in all territories outside of the U.S., Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.
Full Story
Borshell to head Image Entertainment
APRIL 1 | David Borshell has been named president at Image Entertainment, replacing company founder Marty Greenwald as the supplier’s top executive. Greenwald, president and CEO of Image for 25 years, will remain chairman of Image’s board and the company’s second-largest individual shareholder. Going forward, Borshell, most recently chief operating officer, will report to Image’s board.
Full Story
New Line taps Richard Brener
APRIL 1 | FROM VARIETY: New Line's Richard Brener is staying on as Toby Emmerich's right-hand man and has been promoted to prexy of production.
Full Story
Lionsgate to distribute LeapFrog
MARCH 31 | Lionsgate has signed a distribution agreement with kid’s educational brand LeapFrog Enterprises, marking the studio’s second deal with a children’s content publisher in a week.
Full Story
Arts Alliance acquires jazz documentary Chops
MARCH 31 | Arts Alliance America has acquired documentary Chops, which tracks high school music students competing in a prestigious jazz competition.
Full Story
Alvin and the Chipmunks go on mall tour
MARCH 31 | 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is tuning up a nationwide mall concert tour in support of the April 1 standard DVD and Blu-ray Disc release of Alvin and the Chipmunks. At the Los Angeles March 27 concert were son of Alvin creator, Ross Bagdasarian Jr. (3rd from l.); his wife, Janice Bagdasarian (l.); cast members Cameron Richardson, Jason Lee (3rd from r.) and Jesse McCartney (2nd from r.) and Fox’s Steve Feldstein.
Full Story
Alvin sells 2.6 million on DVD, Blu-ray on first day
APRIL 2 | Alvin and the Chipmunks has hit a high note for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, selling 2.6 million copies in its first day of release on DVD and Blu-ray Disc.
Full Story
Alvin and the Chipmunks go on mall tour
MARCH 31 | 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is tuning up a nationwide mall concert tour in support of the April 1 standard DVD and Blu-ray Disc release of Alvin and the Chipmunks. At the Los Angeles March 27 concert were son of Alvin creator, Ross Bagdasarian Jr. (3rd from l.); his wife, Janice Bagdasarian (l.); cast members Cameron Richardson, Jason Lee (3rd from r.) and Jesse McCartney (2nd from r.) and Fox’s Steve Feldstein.
Full Story
Best Buy reports weak Q4 results
APRIL 3 | FROM TWICE: Best Buy reported declines in its fourth-quarter profits and same-store sales amid an economic climate that
Full Story
Online gaming market hits record
APRIL 2 | About 60% of computer-game players compete with others online, fueling a multi-billion-dollar industry led by Vivendi unit Blizzard Entertainment and prompting social-networking Web sites to include games to attract visitors, according to a report released this week by NPD Group.
Full Story
Atari taps veteran exec for CEO gig
APRIL 1 | FROM VARIETY: Struggling videogame publisher Atari has tapped Jim Wilson, who most recently headed Sony BMG's home entertainment unit and was previously exec veep of worldwide studios for Vivendi Universal Games, as its CEO, signaling that the long-troubled company is attempting to revive its fortunes.
Full Story
EA keeps heat on Take-Two
MARCH 31 | FROM VARIETY: Electronic Arts is keeping up the heat on Take-Two shareholders despite the board’s recommendation that shareholders reject EA’s hostile $2 billion acquisition offer.
Full Story
OPINION: Disc changer
Paul Sweeting is editor of Content Agenda
APRIL 4 | Comcast and BitTorrent struck an agreement to develop new network management practices that don’t involve throttling BitTorrent traffic. Whether the agreement will actually resolve anything, however, was not immediately clear.
Full Story
Store rentals down by 2010
APRIL 4 | In-store DVD rental revenue will account for less than half of all rental revenue by 2010 as Netflix, Blockbuster and other DVD by mail services take over a growing share of the market, according to a new Convergence Consulting Group report entitled “The Battle for the American Couch Potato: New Challenges and Opportunities in the Content Market.”
Full Story
NBC bringing shows to the Web
APRIL 3 | FROM VARIETY: Now that issues revolving around scribes and the Internet have been cleared for the time being, NBC Digital Entertainment is moving Peacock properties online in a big way.
Full Story
Impulse Netizens connect with Hulu
APRIL 3 | FROM VARIETY: With media consumers moving at the speed of their modems in search of content, it's no wonder Jason Kilar, CEO of the online video venture Hulu, believes a content provider's mission is all about meeting audiences on their terms. Kilar joins those who believe viewers aren't just on the couch anymore.
Full Story
Networks nab mobile deals
APRIL 1 | FROM VARIETY: The TV biz was looking highly mobile on Monday in advance of the annual CTIA Wireless confab in Las Vegas, with Sony Pictures Television, Fox, NBC Universal and MTV Networks announcing mobile entertainment deals.
Full Story
OPINION: Disc changer
Paul Sweeting is editor of Content Agenda
APRIL 4 | Comcast and BitTorrent struck an agreement to develop new network management practices that don’t involve throttling BitTorrent traffic. Whether the agreement will actually resolve anything, however, was not immediately clear.
Full Story
Housing slump pulls down electronics sales
APRIL 3 | The U.S. housing slump pulled down fourth-quarter sales of consumer-electronics products in all but one metropolitan area, cutting earnings at retailers such as Best Buy, NPD Group said in a report this week. U.S. flat-panel TV sales bucked the trend, however, by jumping 24%.
Full Story
Networks nab mobile deals
APRIL 1 | FROM VARIETY: The TV biz was looking highly mobile on Monday in advance of the annual CTIA Wireless confab in Las Vegas, with Sony Pictures Television, Fox, NBC Universal and MTV Networks announcing mobile entertainment deals.
Full Story
| News | Market Data | Tipsheet Reviews | New Releases | Blogs | Events | Resources | Videogames |
This message was sent to #EmailAddr#.
SUBSCRIBE
To sign up for a free subscription to the weekly printed Video Business magazine -- where you can find additional news stories, the industry's most complete VHS and DVD sales and rental charts, product reviews, special reports and market data, please click here.
For answers to advertising or editorial questions, please click here.
To sign up for Video Business E-News weekly summaries and bulletins, please click here
To unsubscribe, please click here.
To change your profile or to register for other newsletters, please click here.
If you have questions or need further assistance, please contact our Online Support Team at: MediaSupport@reedbusiness.com.
or:
Reed Business Information
2000 Clearwater Dr.
Oak Brook, IL 60523
Fax: (630) 288-8394
To request the text version of the Video Business Weekly Summary, please contact our Online Support Team at: MediaSupport@reedbusiness.com.
To read the Video Business Privacy Policy, please click here.
The 26-year-old Video Business print magazine also is a daily online publication (www.videobusiness.com) covering the physical, digital and electronic distribution of video; retailing and the original production of VHS, DVD, interactive and broadband video programming; and videogames.
Video Business® is a registered trademark of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc. used under license. Trademark owner:
Reed Elsevier Properties Inc.
1105 North Market Street
Ninth Floor
Wilmington, DE 19801
© Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.