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The top news and charts for week ending November 30, 2007 .
Redbox claims locations leader status Warner delivers two types of digital copies High-def hardware sales jump with Black Friday discounts |
"LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD" leads Top DVD Renters Chart "LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD" leads Top DVD Sellers Chart "SHREK THE THIRD" leads Top HD DVD Sellers Chart "LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD" leads Top Blu-ray Sellers Chart |
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SWEETING: OPINION: Sony plays hardball |
Netflix launches gift cards in stores
NOV. 30 | Netflix will be offering gift cards for the first time this holiday season.Retailers signed up to sell the cards, which offer either one-month or three-month Netflix subscriptions, include Office Depot, Winn-Dixie and Barnes & Noble College Booksellers. Additional storefronts should be added in 2008.
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Warner delivers two types of digital copies
NOV. 30 | Warner Home Video’s release next week of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix launches the second branch of the studio’s two-pronged strategy to fuel adoption of digital movies by delivering them with physical copies of the studio’s major titles.
Full Story
High-def hardware sales jump with Black Friday discounts
NOV. 30 | The Black Friday weekend brought nothing but green for high-def hardware, as retailers reported customers stocked up heavily on HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc players during the official start of the holiday shopping season.
Full Story
Discounted catalog sells on Black Friday
NOV. 30 | Recent bargain-priced catalog titles proved more of a must-have than some of the brand new blockbusters on shelves at key retailers over the Thanksgiving weekend. Older but still high-profile titles such as Spider-Man 2 and Batman Begins were sold for less than $4 at retailers including Sears, F.Y.E., Target and K-Mart.
Full Story
Fox, Land O'Frost host 'Holiday Miracle' contest
NOV. 30 | Packaged lunch meat marketer Land O’Frost and 20th Century Fox are teaming for a “Holiday Miracle” essay promotion that asks consumers to describe their most miraculous holiday memory.
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Best Buy chief financial officer leaves
NOV. 30 | FROM TWICE: Darren Jackson, Best Buy’s longtime chief financial officer and more recently head of its customer operating groups, will leave the company Dec. 7 to become president/CEO of Advance Auto Parts.
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Best Buy enhances holiday period services
NOV. 30 | FROM TWICE: Best Buy has introduced a series of in-store and online initiatives to improve the holiday shopping experience for customers.
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Movie Gallery allowed to pay supplier, game vendors
NOV. 29 | At a hearing Nov. 28, Movie Gallery was given permission by the U.S. bankruptcy court to pay the smaller suppliers and game vendors it wants to continue doing business with, in addition to larger studios.
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Heroes bows on Netflix Instant Watch service next day
NOV. 29 | Netflix and NBC Universal announced a deal Thursday to show the popular NBC TV series Heroes (pictured) on Netflix's Instant Watch feature. Prior seasons of several popular NBC series such as 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights and The Office also will be available on the Instant Watch feature and on DVD via mail.
Full Story
Blockbuster in talks for mobile phone content delivery
NOV. 28 | Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes said today that the movie rental giant was in talks with cell phone manufacturers to deliver digital copies of movies through its Movielink service.
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Cyber Monday spending sets record at $733 million
NOV. 27 | As expected, consumers increased their online spending to a record high on Cyber Monday, but the final tally outpaced projections by about 4.3%, to $733 million, according to research group ComScore.
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Slowing DVD sales could sink studios
NOV. 27 | FROM CONTENTAGENDA: Slowing sales of DVDs is undercutting studio profits and could eventually impact the valuations of several major media companies, a Wall Street analyst said Monday.
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Black Friday, Saturday has year-over-year gains
NOV. 26 | Coinciding with this year’s many extended retail sales, analyst ShopperTrak is reporting year-over-year sales gains for both Friday and Saturday.
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Redbox claims locations leader status
NOV. 26 | DVD kiosk company Redbox has reached 6,000 locations, using the milestone to lay claim to being the largest rental operator in the U.S.
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Rhino opens retail outlet for holiday shoppers
NOV. 26 | Retro CD and DVD label Rhino Entertainment is rolling out a temporary retail store in Los Angeles during the holidays.
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Sales continue for Cyber Monday shoppers
NOV. 26 | Most retailers kept the Black Friday sales burning past the weekend, as major bricks-and-mortar chains Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Circuit City, Sears, Kmart and F.Y.E were among those promoting further deals on their Web sites on Monday.
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Black Friday analysis: traffic up, ticket down
NOV. 26 | FROM TWICE: After a lukewarm autumn for retail, shoppers came through in record numbers on Black Friday weekend, marking the traditional start of the holiday selling season with traffic jams and long checkout lines.
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Studios spread love with Valentines DVDs
NOV. 29 | Studios are sending out their Valentines early this year, releasing several romantic comedies and dramas for the Feb. 14 celebration.
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Westerns make comeback in first quarter
NOV. 29 | The Old West has returned in a big way, and a herd of features and TV shows will be released on DVD in the first quarter.
Full Story
Marley seeks united Africa for Black History Month
NOV. 29 | In the feature documentary Africa Unite, Bob Marley's family traveled to Ethiopia in 2005 for a landmark concert performance. Palm Pictures will release the Africa Unite DVD on Feb. 12 (prebook Jan. 15; DVD $24.98), after the film gets a theatrical release this winter. Bob’s son, Ziggy Marley spoke with VB’s Cindy Spielvogel about Africa Unite and his dad.
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New year filled with stars
NOV. 29 | This fourth quarter has been billed as the biggest ever, with box-office hits being released on DVD every week. But studios have saved some star movies to kick off the new year.
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EMA’s Home Media Expo moves to Palms
NOV. 26 | The Entertainment Merchants Assn.’s Home Media Expo is getting a makeover for 2008, rolling out about a month earlier than usual on June 24-26 and at a new location, the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
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New Line sues Koch over Compass documentary
NOV. 30 | New Line Cinema is crying foul over Koch Entertainment documentary DVD Beyond the Golden Compass: The Magic of Philip Pullman, alleging that the title infringes upon the copyright of its upcoming Dec. 7 theatrical The Golden Compass.
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Warner delivers two types of digital copies
NOV. 30 | Warner Home Video’s release next week of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix launches the second branch of the studio’s two-pronged strategy to fuel adoption of digital movies by delivering them with physical copies of the studio’s major titles.
Full Story
Discounted catalog sells on Black Friday
NOV. 30 | Recent bargain-priced catalog titles proved more of a must-have than some of the brand new blockbusters on shelves at key retailers over the Thanksgiving weekend. Older but still high-profile titles such as Spider-Man 2 and Batman Begins were sold for less than $4 at retailers including Sears, F.Y.E., Target and K-Mart.
Full Story
Fox, Land O'Frost host 'Holiday Miracle' contest
NOV. 30 | Packaged lunch meat marketer Land O’Frost and 20th Century Fox are teaming for a “Holiday Miracle” essay promotion that asks consumers to describe their most miraculous holiday memory.
Full Story
Writers, studio talks hit pause button
NOV. 30 | FROM VARIETY: With the writers strike in its fourth week, the companies on Thursday put forth what they consider to be a "groundbreaking" proposal -- and the writers have blasted it.
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Another extension for Image, BTP merger
NOV. 29 | Image Entertainment has again extended the deadline for the closure of its purchase by BTP Acquisition Co., to Dec. 3.
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Heroes bows on Netflix Instant Watch service next day
NOV. 29 | Netflix and NBC Universal announced a deal Thursday to show the popular NBC TV series Heroes (pictured) on Netflix's Instant Watch feature. Prior seasons of several popular NBC series such as 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights and The Office also will be available on the Instant Watch feature and on DVD via mail.
Full Story
Navarre promotes Burke to chief operating officer
NOV. 27 | Brian Burke has been promoted to chief operating officer at Navarre Corp.
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Slowing DVD sales could sink studios
NOV. 27 | FROM CONTENTAGENDA: Slowing sales of DVDs is undercutting studio profits and could eventually impact the valuations of several major media companies, a Wall Street analyst said Monday.
Full Story
Writers, producers resume talks
NOV. 27 | FROM VARIETY: Hollywood remained on the edge of its collective seat Monday amid hopes for a possible end to the writers strike.
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Thomson builds better authoring for Blu-ray Java titles
NOV. 26 | Digital technology company Thomson is building on Blu-ray Disc’s potential to incorporate Java applications by establishing a programming-free authoring environment for Blu-ray Java titles, called BD-JIVE.
Full Story
Rhino opens retail outlet for holiday shoppers
NOV. 26 | Retro CD and DVD label Rhino Entertainment is rolling out a temporary retail store in Los Angeles during the holidays.
Full Story
Toshiba ‘Phases’ in new HD DVD promo
NOV. 20 | FROM TWICE: Toshiba kicked off its previously announced joint promotion with CBS Home Entertainment on Tuesday, offering purchasers of Toshiba HD DVD players and the season one HD DVD collection of Star Trek: The Original Series replica “Phaser” that acts as the player’s remote control.
Full Story
Studios spread love with Valentines DVDs
NOV. 29 | Studios are sending out their Valentines early this year, releasing several romantic comedies and dramas for the Feb. 14 celebration.
Full Story
Westerns make comeback in first quarter
NOV. 29 | The Old West has returned in a big way, and a herd of features and TV shows will be released on DVD in the first quarter.
Full Story
Marley seeks united Africa for Black History Month
NOV. 29 | In the feature documentary Africa Unite, Bob Marley's family traveled to Ethiopia in 2005 for a landmark concert performance. Palm Pictures will release the Africa Unite DVD on Feb. 12 (prebook Jan. 15; DVD $24.98), after the film gets a theatrical release this winter. Bob’s son, Ziggy Marley spoke with VB’s Cindy Spielvogel about Africa Unite and his dad.
Full Story
New year filled with stars
NOV. 29 | This fourth quarter has been billed as the biggest ever, with box-office hits being released on DVD every week. But studios have saved some star movies to kick off the new year.
Full Story
Enchanted casts spell on box office
NOV. 26 | VARIETY BOX OFFICE REPORT: Disney’s modern-day princess tale Enchanted easily fit the glass slipper, grossing an estimated $50 million at the domestic box office over the five-day holiday frame. Pic became the second-best Thanksgiving opener after Toy Story 2.
Full Story
High-def hardware sales jump with Black Friday discounts
NOV. 30 | The Black Friday weekend brought nothing but green for high-def hardware, as retailers reported customers stocked up heavily on HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc players during the official start of the holiday shopping season.
Full Story
First HD VMD players in U.S. on sale in December
NOV. 28 | U.S. retailer PC Rush has ordered 10,000 units of HD VMD Multilayer players for launch in December, marking the first time the fledgling high-definition format will be available domestically.
Full Story
HD DVD player sales reach 750,000 units
NOV. 27 | Following heavy Black Friday discounting, HD DVD players have collectively sold more than 750,000 units, according to the North American HD DVD Promotional Group. That figure encompasses lifetime sales of both Toshiba stand-alone models and Xbox 360 HD DVD players.
Full Story
Thomson builds better authoring for Blu-ray Java titles
NOV. 26 | Digital technology company Thomson is building on Blu-ray Disc’s potential to incorporate Java applications by establishing a programming-free authoring environment for Blu-ray Java titles, called BD-JIVE.
Full Story
Toshiba ‘Phases’ in new HD DVD promo
NOV. 20 | FROM TWICE: Toshiba kicked off its previously announced joint promotion with CBS Home Entertainment on Tuesday, offering purchasers of Toshiba HD DVD players and the season one HD DVD collection of Star Trek: The Original Series replica “Phaser” that acts as the player’s remote control.
Full Story
Studios spread love with Valentines DVDs
NOV. 29 | Studios are sending out their Valentines early this year, releasing several romantic comedies and dramas for the Feb. 14 celebration.
Full Story
New year filled with stars
NOV. 29 | This fourth quarter has been billed as the biggest ever, with box-office hits being released on DVD every week. But studios have saved some star movies to kick off the new year.
Full Story
OPINION: Sony plays hardball
Paul Sweeting is editor of Content Agenda
NOV. 30 | Whether out of desperation or strategic planning, Sony finally seems to be taking bold steps to reclaim some of its lost stature.
Full Story
Wii, DS hit holiday sales highs
NOV. 30 | FROM TWICE: Nintendo said it sold more than 350,000 Wii home video game consoles and 653,000 Nintendo DS handheld game players in the first week of the 2007 holiday shopping season (Nov. 18-24).
Full Story
Sony adds VOD to PS3
NOV. 30 | FROM VARIETY: Sony Computer Entertainment plans to launch an on-demand high-definition video service in Japan for PlayStation 3 early next year, according to Japanese press reports. Japanese PS3 owners with Internet access will be able to download content onto their PS3 hard drives.
Full Story
Activision CEO forecasts drop in game console prices
NOV. 28 | A day after raising forward guidance on the success of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Call of Duty 4, Activision CEO and chairman Robert Kotick said videogame console makers will have to lower prices to reach a mass audience, which he expects will happen in the next couple of years.
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Guitar Hero III lifts Activision earnings forecast
NOV. 27 | The popularity of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock caused videogame publisher Activision to revise its financial guidance positively based on better-than-expected holiday sales in the quarter.
Full Story
Sony adds VOD to PS3
NOV. 30 | FROM VARIETY: Sony Computer Entertainment plans to launch an on-demand high-definition video service in Japan for PlayStation 3 early next year, according to Japanese press reports. Japanese PS3 owners with Internet access will be able to download content onto their PS3 hard drives.
Full Story
TiVo shrinks loss in latest quarter
NOV. 29 | TiVo narrowed its loss more than expected in its fiscal third quarter ended Oct. 31. Revenue rose by 14% to $75.5 million, up from $66 million a year ago.
Full Story
Heroes bows on Netflix Instant Watch service next day
NOV. 29 | Netflix and NBC Universal announced a deal Thursday to show the popular NBC TV series Heroes (pictured) on Netflix's Instant Watch feature. Prior seasons of several popular NBC series such as 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights and The Office also will be available on the Instant Watch feature and on DVD via mail.
Full Story
Spanish arthouse companies form online portal, DVD store
NOV. 29 | FROM VARIETY: Seven key Spanish arthouse film companies, including Pedro and Agustin Almodovar's El Deseo, have teamed to create Filmin.es, an ambitious Internet movie portal aimed at the indie film community.
Full Story
Blockbuster in talks for mobile phone content delivery
NOV. 28 | Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes said today that the movie rental giant was in talks with cell phone manufacturers to deliver digital copies of movies through its Movielink service.
Full Story
Schwarzenegger backs digital moves
NOV. 28 | FROM VARIETY: Just as striking scribes are demanding a higher percentage of the new media dollars Hollywood takes in, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the state needs more digital infrastructure.
Full Story
CinemaNow hires product marketing strategist
NOV. 27 | CinemaNow has appointed 10-year veteran of product marketing Ashley Woodworth to develop a marketing strategy for the online movie download service’s new effort to deliver titles across multiple platforms, including portable devices.
Full Story
iTunes offers John Lennon Video Album on card
NOV. 26 | Starbucks will be exclusively offering the John Lennon Video Album as an iTunes Digital Release card on Dec. 4.
Full Story
Warner delivers two types of digital copies
NOV. 30 | Warner Home Video’s release next week of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix launches the second branch of the studio’s two-pronged strategy to fuel adoption of digital movies by delivering them with physical copies of the studio’s major titles.
Full Story
High-def hardware sales jump with Black Friday discounts
NOV. 30 | The Black Friday weekend brought nothing but green for high-def hardware, as retailers reported customers stocked up heavily on HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc players during the official start of the holiday shopping season.
Full Story
Discounted catalog sells on Black Friday
NOV. 30 | Recent bargain-priced catalog titles proved more of a must-have than some of the brand new blockbusters on shelves at key retailers over the Thanksgiving weekend. Older but still high-profile titles such as Spider-Man 2 and Batman Begins were sold for less than $4 at retailers including Sears, F.Y.E., Target and K-Mart.
Full Story
Fox, Land O'Frost host 'Holiday Miracle' contest
NOV. 30 | Packaged lunch meat marketer Land O’Frost and 20th Century Fox are teaming for a “Holiday Miracle” essay promotion that asks consumers to describe their most miraculous holiday memory.
Full Story
TiVo shrinks loss in latest quarter
NOV. 29 | TiVo narrowed its loss more than expected in its fiscal third quarter ended Oct. 31. Revenue rose by 14% to $75.5 million, up from $66 million a year ago.
Full Story
First HD VMD players in U.S. on sale in December
NOV. 28 | U.S. retailer PC Rush has ordered 10,000 units of HD VMD Multilayer players for launch in December, marking the first time the fledgling high-definition format will be available domestically.
Full Story
Blockbuster in talks for mobile phone content delivery
NOV. 28 | Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes said today that the movie rental giant was in talks with cell phone manufacturers to deliver digital copies of movies through its Movielink service.
Full Story
Schwarzenegger backs digital moves
NOV. 28 | FROM VARIETY: Just as striking scribes are demanding a higher percentage of the new media dollars Hollywood takes in, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the state needs more digital infrastructure.
Full Story
HD DVD player sales reach 750,000 units
NOV. 27 | Following heavy Black Friday discounting, HD DVD players have collectively sold more than 750,000 units, according to the North American HD DVD Promotional Group. That figure encompasses lifetime sales of both Toshiba stand-alone models and Xbox 360 HD DVD players.
Full Story
Slowing DVD sales could sink studios
NOV. 27 | FROM CONTENTAGENDA: Slowing sales of DVDs is undercutting studio profits and could eventually impact the valuations of several major media companies, a Wall Street analyst said Monday.
Full Story
Thomson builds better authoring for Blu-ray Java titles
NOV. 26 | Digital technology company Thomson is building on Blu-ray Disc’s potential to incorporate Java applications by establishing a programming-free authoring environment for Blu-ray Java titles, called BD-JIVE.
Full Story
Toshiba ‘Phases’ in new HD DVD promo
NOV. 20 | FROM TWICE: Toshiba kicked off its previously announced joint promotion with CBS Home Entertainment on Tuesday, offering purchasers of Toshiba HD DVD players and the season one HD DVD collection of Star Trek: The Original Series replica “Phaser” that acts as the player’s remote control.
Full Story
Studios spread love with Valentines DVDs
NOV. 29 | Studios are sending out their Valentines early this year, releasing several romantic comedies and dramas for the Feb. 14 celebration.
Full Story
Westerns make comeback in first quarter
NOV. 29 | The Old West has returned in a big way, and a herd of features and TV shows will be released on DVD in the first quarter.
Full Story
Marley seeks united Africa for Black History Month
NOV. 29 | In the feature documentary Africa Unite, Bob Marley's family traveled to Ethiopia in 2005 for a landmark concert performance. Palm Pictures will release the Africa Unite DVD on Feb. 12 (prebook Jan. 15; DVD $24.98), after the film gets a theatrical release this winter. Bob’s son, Ziggy Marley spoke with VB’s Cindy Spielvogel about Africa Unite and his dad.
Full Story
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