More Articles By Ned Randolph

• Ed Burns releases Purple Violets on iTunes
  NOV. 9 | Filmmaker Ed Burns will release his latest self-directed and -produced project, Purple Violets , exclusively on Apple’s iTunes Store Nov. 20. More
  
• Blockbuster to broaden entertainment reach
  NOV. 9 | Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes yesterday laid out for analysts the company's new strategy to improve its performance by refocusing on its 20 million in-store customers, updating its image from one associated with DVD rental to become a broader entertainment brand and better executing its Total Access mail subscription service. More
  
• Blockbuster makes DVDs searchable on Facebook
  NOV. 8 | Blockbuster is using a new application called "Movie Clique" to allow Facebook users to search through Blockbuster's library of movie titles, create lists of movies they want to see and share movie ratings and reviews with other Facebook users. More
  
• TV on DVD helps lift Disney fiscal Q4
  NOV. 8 | Sales of hot TV DVD releases of ABC series Desperate Housewives , Grey’s Anatomy and Lost helped net income for The Walt Disney Co. surged 12% in the company’s fiscal 2007 fourth quarter. More
  
• Theatrical, DVD lifts News Corp. operating income 23%
  NOV. 7 | 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment parent News Corp. reported a 23% increase in operating income in the quarter ended Sept. 30, boosted by surging income in its film properties and home entertainment segments. Film Entertainment Division operating income grew 51% over the prior year to $362 million, driven by the theatrical success of The Simpsons Movie and Live Free or Die Hard (pictured). More
  
• CinemaNow signs with Samsung
  NOV. 1 | CinemaNow’s download video service is now available on the Samsung P2 Portable Media Player. Samsung P2 users can purchase and download movies, TV shows and music videos at Samsung.CinemaNow.com, priced from $1.99 to $19.95. More
  
• Big Blue looks to boost sell-through as losses grow
  NOV. 1 | Blockbuster laid out some details of its plan to improve store profitability—including a focus on consumer sales—as it reported a wider third-quarter loss Thursday. More
  
• MGM promotes United Artists catalog
  OCT. 29 | To promote the upcoming 90th anniversary of United Artists, parent MGM Home Entertainment is launching an 18-month catalog promotion with a $20 million media campaign, traveling festival and national sweepstakes. MGM said the 18-month promotion will be the largest catalog event in video industry history. More than 50 UA films will be relaunched on DVD. More
  
• NBC, Fox online video site Hulu launches
  OCT. 29 | The partnership between NBC and 20th Century Fox to stream the networks’ programming online in a free, ad-based service launched today, following last minute deals to add Sony Pictures Television and MGM Studios into the mix. More
  
• SoCal fires keep some retailers busy, others empty
  OCT. 26 | SAN DIEGO— Don Alford is still looking forward to opening his first video rental store in the community of Ramona, outside of San Diego, even if he has to wait a little longer. Entertainment Merchants Assn. VP Sean Bersell said most of the affected video retailers were likely in San Diego County, which has lost more than 300,000 acres to wildfire. More
  
• Starz opens Vongo to handheld playback
  OCT. 25 | Starz Entertainment today announced a new application that allows monthly subscribers to its Vongo service to watch movies through a seven manufactured handheld media players. More
  
• Movielink, Blockbuster launch Sopranos cross-promotion
  OCT. 24 | To promote the final season DVD release of New Jersey's most infamous family, Movielink is offering free downloads of select episodes from the first and last season of HBO's hit mobster series The Sopranos and offering a $10 discount toward the sale of any season on DVD at Blockbuster stores. More
  
• CNN Peril DVD manufactured on demand at Amazon
  OCT. 23 | CNN is making the documentary Planet in Peril available on Amazon.com as a DVD title that’s manufactured on demand by Amazon unit CreateSpace (formerly known as CustomFlix). More
  
• Income up 313% at Amazon in Q3
  OCT. 23 | Amazon.com today reported one of its best quarters ever, with a 313% rise in net income in the period that ended on Sept. 30. The online retailer attributed its success in part to international media sales, such as DVDs, which grew 36% to $2.09 billion in the third quarter. More
  
• Netflix beats analyst expectations in Q3
  OCT. 22 | Netflix's third-quarter performance bested expectations by Wall Street analysts, as the online movie subscription rental service posted profits of $15.7 million, or 23¢ a share, in the three-month period that ended Sept. 30. Analysts were expecting earnings of 15¢ a share, according to the average estimate reported by Thomson Financial. More
  
• Transformers fastest-selling DVD, HD DVD this year
  OCT. 22 | Box-office blockbuster Transformers sold 4.5 million DVD copies its first day and 8.3 million copies in its first week, making it the top day-one and first-week seller this year, according to Paramount Home Entertainment. Paramount also said the title sold more than 100,000 HD DVDs in its first day on shelves, on the way to selling 190,000 units on HD DVD in its first week. More
  
• $399 PS3 on sale Nov. 2
  OCT. 18 | Sony Computer Entertainment America confirmed it will introduce a stripped-down, 40GB model of its PlayStation 3 priced at $399 on Nov. 2, as expected, and at the same time dropped the price of the more robust 80GB model to $499. More
  
• Disney promotes two-for-one Blu-ray deal
  OCT. 18 | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment this week pushed its Blu-ray Disc slate with a two-for-one deal at leading retailers, including Amazon and Best Buy. Select titles include Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (pictured). More
  
• Universal broadens Mummy with DVD premiere prequel
  OCT. 18 | Universal Studios Home Entertainment is intending to squeeze a few more dollars out of its Mummy franchise with a fourth Mummy offshoot that will go straight to DVD under the studio’s DVD Originals brand. More
  
• Analyst upgrades Blockbuster stock
  OCT. 16 | A day after giving Netflix shares a rating boost, analyst Michael Pachter has upgraded Blockbuster shares to “strong buy” on the expectations that it too will benefit from the bankruptcy of rival Movie Gallery. More