More Articles By Ned Randolph

• Yuma sells 3 million on DVD, Blu-ray
  JAN. 17 | Outlaw western 3:10 to Yuma sold 3 million copies on DVD and Blu-ray discs in the U.S. and Canada in its first week of release, according to Lionsgate. The studio, which prides itself on its box office-to-DVD conversion rate, said the movie outsold films with two to three times its box office. The sales figure includes units shipped for rental. More
  
• Blockbuster stock drops, rebounds on Apple news
  JAN. 16 | While the U.S. stock markets experienced a broad sell-off Tuesday, Blockbuster fell particular far, dropping 17%, on news that Apple CEO Steve Jobs had just unveiled a movie rental service on iTunes. More
  
• Sundance offers contest shorts on Web
  JAN. 16 | Organizers of the Sundance Film Festival will make its program of short films available for limited free viewing on the Sundance Web site and for sale through iTunes, Netflix and Xbox Live Marketplace. More
  
• ITunes adds movie rentals in PPV window
  JAN. 15 | UPDATED: Apple is offering movie rentals over iTunes in the pay-per-view window and is retooling Apple TV to allow users to rent titles directly from their TV in high-definition. More
  
• Netflix reduces Instant Watch restrictions
  JAN. 14 | Netflix tried to get a jump on Apple’s expected announcement about rental downloads by lifting time restrictions for its Instant Watching feature, which streams TV and movie content from the Netflix Web site directly onto a Windows-based PC. More
  
• CES: Comcast launching high-def download service
  JAN. 9 | Comcast Corp. will provide thousands of high-definition movies on demand and a new "wide-band" Internet service that can download high-def titles in four minutes over the Internet by the end of the year, CEO Brian Roberts told participants at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. More
  
• NBC Universal Dean Martin Show suit settled
  JAN. 8 | A lawsuit filed by NBC Universal asserting ownership to episodes of The Dean Martin Show , which aired on the station from 1965 to 1975, has been settled. More
  
• Sony puts TV clips on YouTube channels
  JAN. 7 | Sony Pictures Television will offer five-minute videos from such popular TV shows as Married With Children , News Radio and The Jeffersons on several ad-supported channels on YouTube. More
  
• Vudu pumps up high-def content, set-top storage
  JAN. 7 | On-demand set-top box Vudu will add 70 new high-definition movie titles to its catalog later this month and in February roll out a $999 Vudu XL box that comes with a terabyte of storage, capable of holding 500 movies. More
  
• DVR penetration to double in five years
  JAN. 3 | A new JupiterResearch report forecasts steady growth for digital video recorders in U.S. TV households over the next five years, which will create a challenge for advertisers, even though DVRs themselves face competition from video-on-demand and online video streaming. More
  
• Netflix partners with LG to stream to TV
  JAN. 3 | Netflix is teaming with LG Electronics on a set-top box that streams movies and other programming from the Internet to the TV. More
  
• Blockbuster boosts Total Access prices
  DEC. 20 | Blockbuster, in a bid to increase the profitability of Total Access, is changing the prices of DVD rental subscription programs, with rates for its Total Access Premium offering unlimited mail order and in-store exchanges going up a hefty $5 to $10. More
  
• DEG Europe: Holiday DVD purchases to rise over 2006
  DEC. 18 | Despite signs of maturation in the DVD market, an industry advocacy group reported today that its own customer surveys reveal more DVD purchases will take place over the holidays this year than in 2006. More
  
• E3 moves back to L.A. Convention Center
  DEC. 18 | The Entertainment Software Assn. is moving its E3 tradeshow back to the Los Angeles Convention Center but keeping the scaled-down format it adopted last year. More
  
• Blockbuster shipping out 20,000 DVDs to USO
  DEC. 17 | To help spread some cheer to men and woman in uniform, Blockbuster employees are volunteering to help ship out 20,000 DVDs to United Service Organization centers around the world in time for the holidays. More
  
• Ultimatum sells 5.4 million DVDs in first week
  DEC. 17 | Jason Bourne gets better with age. The Bourne Ultimatum , Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s third installment in the Bourne franchise, outperformed its predecessors, selling more than 5.4 million units since its Dec. 11 street date. The espionage thriller captured $95 million in consumer spending in its first six days in stores. More
  
• Online video will be 8% of industry by 2011, report says
  DEC. 17 | While the online video market has been slower to grow than Hollywood and its technical partners anticipated, online video retail is nonetheless expected to grow more than fivefold in the next four years, from $252 million to $2.9 billion in consumer spending by 2011, according to research firm Understanding and Solutions. More
  
• Amway opens online store Fanista
  DEC. 14 | The parent company of multi-level marketer Amway has opened an online store to sell DVD, music and videogames with the same network techniques it uses to move soap, vitamins and beauty products. More
  
• Samsung offers $10 credit for CinemaNow
  DEC. 14 | Samsung ran an ad in the Sunday New York Times promoting a $10 credit for CinemaNow downloads with the purchase of a Samsung P2 Portable Media player, which costs less than $200.  More
  
• Set-tops get into high-def downloads
  DEC. 13 | While set-up box movie service Vudu streamed its first high-definition title this week, The Bourne Ultimatum , a new rival says it is joining the game as early as January. XStream HD will make available high-definition and standard-definition titles using satellite bandwidth and a dedicated set-top box, company officials said. More