More Articles By Susanne Ault

• Image to distribute ProElite mixed martial arts DVDs
  APRIL 28 | Image Entertainment has signed a multi-year output deal with mixed martial arts producer ProElite. More
  
• 27 Dresses Blu-ray
  FOX Street: April 29 Prebook: now > Gorgeous dresses jump off the screen in this romantic comedy. Without wham-bam action, chick flicks don’t seem well suited to maximize the potential of high-definition. But 27 Dresses on Blu-ray is a special case. The film features more than two dozen spectacularly colored frocks that fly off the screen as much as any fight scene might. More
  
• Fewer episodes, more extras for Disney TV sets
  APRIL 25 | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is releasing its newest DVDs for Grey’s Anatomy , Private Practice and Lost with exclusive extended episodes and bonus features in an effort to offset the fact that the full season sets have fewer episodes than usual. More
  
• Studios vary pricing for Blu-ray releases
  APRIL 25 | Blu-ray Disc won the format war. Now one of the next challenges for studios, wholesalers and retailers is how to best price the product to quicken consumer adoption and preserve profits. Retailers report some shoppers balk at paying $5 to $10 more for Blu-ray than DVD. More
  
• Key indies enjoy perks of big chain stores
  APRIL 24 | Many independent video stores are no longer even blips on studio radar, but there still are certain indies that, because of their loyal customer bases and local reputations as tastemakers, enjoy the influence of much larger retailers. More
  
• Lombard leaves Starbucks
  APRIL 24 | Starbucks Entertainment president Ken Lombard, who oversaw the launch of DVD sales at the coffee chain, has exited the post as part of a company-wide restructuring to focus on digital music and books. More
  
• DVD releases draft on summer box-office
  APRIL 24 | The first wave of big summer films will wash over theaters in May, and video retailers have ample opportunity to ride it with DVD releases tied to the potential blockbusters. More
  
• NPD: Entertainment spending to drop in 2008
  APRIL 22 | The economic downtown will slow consumer entertainment spending, according to the NPD Group. In its "Entertainment Trends in America" survey, NPD reports that 83% of respondents predict they will spend the same or less on media products this year versus 2007. More
  
• BD Live Platform promises savings in time, money
  APRIL 18 | New Blu-ray Disc development software, dubbed BD Live Platform, promises to save studios time and money in crafting advanced bonus features. The result could be more BD Live titles coming to market with beefed up interactivity this year. More
  
• Living Seas offered as free download for Earth Day
  APRIL 21 | GREEN REPORT:  As an Earth Day gift, Image Entertainment is offering free downloads and/or streams of IMAX documentary The Living Sea this week. More
  
• Indies ramp up high-def releases
  APRIL 21 | INDIE FILM GUIDE: Indie suppliers are rolling out strategies to get into the Blu-ray Disc format in a cost-effective way. More
  
• 2008 Q1 about even with last year
  APRIL 18 | Consumer spending on home video rentals and purchases in the first quarter was virtually dead even with last year, as growing Blu-ray Disc sales helped offset the effects of the unstable U.S. economy. For the first three months of 2008, however, consumer spending on rentals and purchases of all home entertainment formats slipped just 0.3% to $5.6 billion, as the sell-through business edged up 0.5% to $3.5 billion, while rental fell 1.1% to $2.1 billion. More
  
• Blockbuster denies Facebook promotion violates customer privacy
  APRIL 18 | A woman is seeking a class action lawsuit against Blockbuster for invading customer privacy. Cathryn Elaine Harris accuses the chain of wrongfully distributing personal information about her Blockbuster Online DVD transactions for marketing purposes on social network Facebook. More
  
• Virgin promotion surrounds Los Angeles Brit Week
  APRIL 17 | Hoping to boost its lifestyle merchandise in a tough retail climate, Virgin Megastores has signed on as a major sponsor of Los Angeles’ Brit Week 2008. The retailer will be heavily promoting DVDs of films featured in three different screening series that are part of the April 26-May 31 celebration of British culture. More
  
• Sonic Solutions builds better BD Live development tools
  APRIL 17 | Sonic Solutions has added new BD Live capabilities to its Scenarist Blu-ray authoring platform. The company promises that the Scenarist upgrade will streamline the creation of Web-enabled BD Live features, because developers can more efficiently build interactivity. More
  
• Wii on top in March console sales
  APRIL 17 | The Nintendo Wii led the way in ongoing videogame momentum in March, according to the NPD Group. For the month, the Wii sold 721,000 units, easily trouncing next-generation rivals the Xbox 360 at 262,000 units sold and PlayStation 3 at 257,000 units sold. More
  
• PlayStation Store relaunches with game downloads, Blu-ray trailers
  APRIL 15 | Sony Computer Entertainment has relaunched its PlayStation Store, promising quicker access to game downloads and Blu-ray Disc trailers for PS3 users. Currently, 3.6 million people in North America have registered accounts with the PlayStation Store, and 66 million pieces of content have been downloaded to date. More
  
• Fox offers Juno day-and-date on iTunes
  APRIL 15 |  In a first for the studio, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is offering Juno for sale on Apple iTunes today, the same day as the movie bows on DVD.  Juno can be downloaded for $14.99 through the iTunes service. Also, a second Juno soundtrack release, Juno B-Sides Almost Adopted Songs , is now exclusively available for download at iTunes for $9.99. Starting May 14, people will be able to rent Juno on iTunes. More
  
• Starbucks, iTunes offer free song, music video downloads
  APRIL 15 | Starbucks and iTunes are launching a new music and video recommendations program that involves giving away free downloads of songs and music videos. More
  
• Studios switch to digital screeners
  APRIL 11 | Studios are wielding a new weapon in the battle against piracy: digitally delivered film screeners. In recent months, Warner Home Video, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment have all rolled out ‘e-screener’ programs, under which retailers can download or stream copy-protected films to their computers. More