More Articles By Jennifer Netherby

• Grand Theft Auto IV set to break record
  MAY 1 | No numbers have been released yet, but by all indications Grand Theft Auto IV will make history as the biggest launch of an entertainment property when publisher Take-Two Interactive discloses sales, as it is expected to do later this week or early next. More
  
• iTunes offering movie downloads on DVD street
  MAY 2 | Apple announced deals Thursday with every major studio to begin selling permanent new release downloads on iTunes at the same time as the film’s DVD release. Key to the breakthrough, studio sources said, was Apple’s willingness to pay wholesale costs in line with those of DVD. More
  
• Genius eliminates 32 staffers
  APRIL 30 | Genius Products has undergone a “restructuring” that resulted in the elimination of 32 positions, or about 14% of the company’s staff. More
  
• Blu-ray set-top player sales down since January
  APRIL 30 | The end of the format war wasn’t enough to convince consumers to go Blu. In February, the same month that Blu-ray Disc won the high-definition war, Blu-ray set-top player sales dropped 40% from January, according to the latest numbers from the NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service. More
  
• DVD boosts DreamWorks Animation Q1
  APRIL 30 | Strong DVD sales on Bee Movie (pictured) and Shrek the Third boosted DreamWorks Animation earnings 69% in the first quarter, the company reported Tuesday. Since the March 11 release of Bee Movie , the company has shipped 4.8 million units of the title. More
  
• CinemaNow offers mobile phone services
  APRIL 30 | CinemaNow has partnered with uVuMobile for a mobile version of CinemaNow's service that will allow customers to watch movie trailers and order full-length films through their phones. More
  
• Circuit City further pressured to open books to Blockbuster
  APRIL 29 | HBK Capital Management, Circuit City’s largest shareholder with a 9% stake, is urging the chain to open its books to Blockbuster for due diligence in the rental retailer’s takeover bid. More
  
• Blockbuster in talks to join Paramount, Lionsgate, MGM VOD channel
  APRIL 29 | Blockbuster is in talks to invest in the premium video-on-demand movie channel being launched by Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate and MGM, according to a report today in the Wall Street Journal. More
  
• Older TV shows moving online
  APRIL 28 | DVD may be where the revenue is, but a wave of TV shows, some never released on DVD, are starting to hit the Internet in bids to reach a migrating audience. More
  
• Blockbuster adds videogame, console sales
  APRIL 28 |  Within a day of two of the hottest games of the year due in stores, Blockbuster will begin selling videogames and game consoles in stores across the country as part of an effort to expand its game business. More
  
• CDSA joins EMA's Digital Delivery Council
  APRIL 24 | The Content Delivery & Storage Assn. (formerly the International Recording Media Assn.) has joined the Entertainment Merchants Assn. in its effort to establish a uniform set of standards for digital delivery of entertainment content over the Internet. More
  
• Circuit City continues concerns over Blockbuster bid
  APRIL 23 | Circuit City reiterated concerns Wednesday over whether Blockbuster will be able to finance a $1 billion bid to buy the nation’s second-biggest electronics retailer in the current financial environment. The announcement was in response to an open letter sent to the Circuit City board by an activist shareholder pressing the chain to open its books for due diligence and begin good faith negotiations with Blockbuster. More
  
• Amazon earnings up, no details on digital sales
  APRIL 23 | Strong U.S. and international sales pushed Amazon.com earnings up 29% to $143 million during the first quarter, the retailer said Wednesday. More
  
• Apple Q2 revenue up 36%; 1.7 million iPhones sold
  APRIL 23 | Strong sales of iPods and Mac computers drove Apple net income up 36% to $1 billion during its most recent quarter, the company reported Wednesday. More
  
• Netflix to hike Blu-ray rental price
  APRIL 21 | Netflix will begin charging a premium to subscribers who rent Blu-ray Discs sometime this year, CEO Reed Hastings said during the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call today. More
  
• Universal goes Blu with Mummy franchise
  APRIL 17 | Months after putting its support firmly behind Blu-ray Disc, Universal Studios Home Entertainment announced a broad slate of releases to mark its debut on the format, starting with The Mummy franchise this summer. The Mummy (pictured), The Mummy Returns and spin-off The Scorpion King will debut on Blu-ray July 22, weeks before the sequel The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor hits theaters Aug. 1. More
  
• Hewlett-Packard connects TV to Internet
  APRIL 17 | Hewlett-Packard became the latest company to connect the TV to the Internet, announcing today that its MediaSmart TVs now have Microsoft’s Media Center Extender capability to allow consumers to download movies directly to their TV. More
  
• High-def VOD could add $5 billion to home entertainment pie
  APRIL 14 | Shutting the window between DVD and video-on-demand and raising the price on high-definition VOD movies could boost consumer home video spending by $5 billion or more annually, according to a new study from international strategy consulting firm Oliver Wyman. More
  
• 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.” More
  
• Target has Eebee Adventures  DVD exclusive
  MARCH 18 | A new baby DVD that encourages play and has been called the “un-Baby Einstein” is set to debut exclusively in Target stores nationwide beginning Monday. The exclusive DVD, Eebee’s Adventures: Developmental Play for You and Baby , was developed by the Every Baby Co. and Compass Productions. More