More Articles By Susanne Ault

• High-def discs lag standard, but gaining momentum
  FEB. 15 | High-definition software sales are trailing standard-definition by half in the formats’ first two years on the market, according to Adams Media Research. More
  
• Easter period crowded with titles
  FEB. 15 | March is becoming the practical beginning of the new release New Year, according to studios and retailers, who in some cases are drawing comparisons between the crowded pre-Easter period and the fourth quarter. More
  
• EAA looks to broaden reach
  FEB. 15 | Home entertainment industry charity Entertainment AIDS Alliance is exploring ways to attract new members from the broader entertainment community—and new sources of funds. More
  
• Borders concept store integrates DVD into themed areas
  FEB. 14 | Borders is unveiling its first of several planned concept stores, which especially emphasize popular products by creating ‘destinations’ out of related items. More
  
• Image narrows loss in Q3; plans for future
  FEB. 14 | Image Entertainment reported red ink for its third quarter fiscal 2008, but the DVD supplier believes it will soon return to growth as it puts its failed merger with BTP Acquisition Company behind it. More
  
• Image to continue releasing ThinkFilm titles
  FEB. 12 | Image Entertainment has won the ability to continue distributing ThinkFilm titles through its output agreement with label parent CT1 Holdings, even though the planned merger between Image and CT1 affiliate BTP Acquisition Co. has been dismantled. More
  
• Image to distribute Celluloid Dreams films
  FEB. 11 | Image Entertainment has signed a three-film distribution agreement with production company Celluloid Dreams, signaling it intends to conduct business as usual following the collapse of its merger with BTP Acquisition Co. More
  
• Best Buy to endorse Blu-ray over HD DVD
  FEB. 11 | Leading high-def software retailer Best Buy starting in March will endorse Blu-ray Disc as the preferred high-def format. The retailer will give Blu-ray titles and hardware more prominence in stores and online through merchandising and signage. It also will shift most of its marketing support, including newspaper circulars, to Blu-ray said spokesman Brian Lucas. More
  
• Landmark gets jump on Last Emperor
  FEB. 11 | Landmark Theatres visitors will be able to exclusively purchase Criterion Collection’s The Last Emperor for one week prior to its wide retail bow on Feb. 26. Streeting at the exhibitor’s 58 locations on Feb. 19, Landmark is pricing the title for $49.99. Criterion’s The Last Emperor spans four-discs and includes commentary by director Bernardo Bertolucci, producer Jeremy Thomas, screenwriter Mark Peploe and composer-actor Ryuichi Sakamoto. More
  
• NPD: Intent-to-buy Blu-ray grows
  FEB. 8 | Consumers are expressing more desire to purchase Blu-ray Disc players following Warner Bros. Entertainment’s swing to back that format exclusively, according to the NPD Group. Meanwhile, the research firm reports that interest in HD DVD players is flattening. More
  
• Anchor Bay pitches high-profile releases
  FEB. 8 | Anchor Bay Entertainment held its first-ever retail summit last month, hosting executives from Amazon, Blockbuster, Netflix, Trans World Entertainment and other major accounts in Santa Monica, Calif., for presentations of its newly high-profile schedule, including box-office fare from sister division Overture Films, such as current Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah comedy Mad Money . More
  
• New Medium Enterprises launches HD VMD effort
  FEB. 7 | SANTA MONICA, Calif.— Armed with a new replication facility and a veteran of the TV industry as its new chairman, New Medium Enterprises continues to try to convince content owners and consumers that its HD VMD high-definition format is a less expensive alternative to Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. More
  
• Allumination to distribute four Trifecta titles
  FEB. 7 | Allumination Filmworks has signed onto a four-film output agreement with Trifecta Entertainment & Media LLC. More
  
• DVD helps Time Warner 2007 earnings
  FEB. 6 | Time Warner notched gains in its theatrical and DVD division but nevertheless reported mixed fourth-quarter and full year fiscal 2007 earnings due mostly to its suffering AOL business. More
  
• Net income drops in Navarre fiscal Q3
  FEB. 6 | Despite strengthening PC software and videogame operations, Navarre Corp. reported some slowdown in its fiscal 2008 third quarter. More
  
• Warner celebrates 85th anniversary with retail event
  FEB. 6 | Warner Home Video will mark the studio’s 85th anniversary with a yearlong retail event that includes nine catalog promotions, spanning 50 new to disc titles, and the release of You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story , a five-hour documentary produced by Richard Schickel and narrated by Clint Eastwood. Actor Warren Beatty (c.) attended a launch gala at the Warner lot, along with Best Buy's Marlys Thorson (r.) and Amazon.com Angela Langmann. More
  
• Redbox kiosk drops R titles after complaints
  FEB. 5 | Union City, Ind., has succeeded in getting rid of the R-rated movie titles being rented out of its local McDonald’s Redbox kiosk. Rick Reichenbach, owner of the Union City McDonald's and other nearby restaurants, agreed to take out the R titles after being threatened with a Union City public nuisance citation. More
  
• Alvin  streets on DVD, Blu-ray April 1
  FEB. 5 | UPDATE: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will no longer release a digital copy with the April 1 standard DVD and Blu-ray Disc release of Alvin and the Chipmunks , although an early press release had stated a digital copy would be available on the two-disc and Blu-ray versions. More
  
• Image extends BTP merger closing date
  FEB. 4 | Image Entertainment has extended the target closing date for its merger with BTP Acquisition Group to Feb. 5 in order to have more time to determine the transaction’s status. More
  
• Warner’s Otis to premiere at South by Southwest
  FEB. 1 | Warner Home Video’s newest Raw Feed production, Otis , is expected to be the label’s most mainstream offering to date. To support it, the studio will premiere the movie at the South by Southwest Film Festival next month before a possible limited theatrical run. More