More Articles By Susanne Ault

• DVD premieres in production despite writers strike
  DEC. 14 | The ongoing Writers Guild of America strike is not preventing a strong supply of DVD premiere movies from hitting retail through 2008. Some projects have been delayed due to not yet ready scripts from boycotting screenwriters, including New Line Home Entertainment’s second Danielle Steel title and a sequel to 2004 theatrical Cellular . More
  
• First Look plans environmental initiatives
  DEC. 14 | First Look Studios is teaming with Shorewood Packaging on an expansive environmental initiative that includes replacing plastic Amaray-style DVD cases with recycled paperboard packaging and planting trees to offset the carbon emissions associated with the manufacture and distribution of DVDs. More
  
• NPD: DVD sales soften as product matures
  DEC. 14 | Consumers’ hunger for new DVDs looks to be on the wane, according to NPD Group research that offers some context for the softness of fourth-quarter sales this year. More
  
• Sony, Samsung dominate Blu-ray set-top sales
  DEC. 14 | Sony and Samsung overwhelmingly dominate Blu-ray Disc set-top player sales, but new Panasonic and LG players are striving for a bigger piece of the BD hardware pie. For the week ended Nov. 24, Sony captured 60% of all BD unit sales; and Samsung was its only significant competitor with 32%, according to DisplaySearch. Panasonic was far behind, corralling a 5% share. More
  
• Few Golden Globes nominees on DVD so far
  DEC. 13 | Consumers—or retailers—ready to pounce on DVDs that are among today’s announced Golden Globe top film nominees, will have to make do with a limited selection. Many nominees, including Globe overall leader Atonement with seven nods, have not yet been slated for DVD release. More
  
• Third Pirates sells 8 million units in first week
  DEC. 12 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End has sold about 8 million copies in North America during its first week on sale, according to multiple industry sources, helping to raise hopes for a strong December at retail. The third installment of the Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment franchise, which streeted Dec. 4, appears to be running neck-and-neck with Transformers as the top fourth-quarter title in 2007. More
  
• Friedman heads operations at Summit
  DEC. 12 | Industry veteran Sandy Friedman has been named executive VP of operations, home entertainment, at Summit Entertainment. More
  
• Warner hires Sony exec as president of Digital Distribution
  DEC. 12 | Thomas Gewecke has been named president of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, the video-on-demand and electronic sell-through unit of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. Most recently Sony BMG Music Entertainment’s executive VP of global digital business, Gewecke will now drive new media strategies for Warner’s home entertainment assets. More
  
• Next wave of high-def adopters to affect format war
  DEC. 11 | The demographics of the next wave of high-def adopters, who are considered more price-conscious than the earlier adopters, might work to sway the format war in HD DVD’s favor, according to research firm The Diffusion Group. More
  
• Image, BTP merger delayed to Jan. 14
  DEC. 10 | Image Entertainment has further extended the deadline of its merger to Jan. 14, following a renewed commitment by BTP Acquisition Company that it does intend to purchase the indie DVD supplier. More
  
• Hot Topic builds boutique for Foster's
  DEC. 10 | Cartoon Network series Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends has scored its own boutique inside Hot Topic, featuring Warner Home Video-distributed DVDs, clothing, room decorations and other themed products. More
  
• Videogames trumping DVDs in Q4
  DEC. 7 | As the last of the $300 million-grossing films streeted on DVD on Dec. 4 with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End , retailers and wholesalers are mostly buzzing about the wild success of this year’s videogame titles. More
  
• Acorn to distribute Fanny Hill in 2008
  DEC. 7 | Acorn Media Group has signed on to distribute Fanny Hill on DVD in North America in 2008. More
  
• High-def player sales still just 10% of standard DVD
  DEC. 7 | High-def hardware achieved huge Black Friday gains, but still lags behind the sales pace of standard-definition DVD players. More
  
• Consumer electronics growth slows
  DEC. 5 | Black Friday consumer electronics sales continue to grow but at a slowing rate, according to NPD Group research. DVD players once again were not in the top five. More
  
• Lionsgate to bow first BD-Live titles in January
  DEC. 5 | LOS ANGELES —Lionsgate will bring out the first Web-enabled Blu-ray Disc titles in January, even though hardware that can fully playback BD-Live interactivity has not yet been confirmed. More
  
• Analysts: High-def formats will remain at parity
  DEC. 4 | LOS ANGELES— Despite overwhelming Blu-ray hardware dominance, software for the two high-definition formats will be selling nearly equally for several years, according to sister companies Screen Media Digest and Adams Media Research. More
  
• Par, Uni tout high usage of HD DVD Web features
  DEC. 4 | Paramount Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment are touting high usage of the Web-enabled features embedded in their HD DVD titles, including Transformers and Heroes: Season One . More
  
• Starz, Brookstone join for Vongo promotion
  DEC. 3 | Starz Entertainment and Brookstone are teaming up on a co-promotion in which the gadget mall chain’s Web and catalog customers will score a free 30-day trial to online film service Vongo with purchase of $100 or more. More
  
• Blu-ray players reach 2.7 million units sold
  DEC. 3 | The Blu-ray Disc Assn. is touting a new milestone passed over the Black Friday shopping period, noting that player sales since launch reached 2.7 million units through Nov. 24. More