Another Battle In The DVD Format War
May 6, 2006
Sony Delays Blu-Ray Titles | www.videobusiness.com
Sony Pictures announced today that the Company is delaying the release of its Blu-Ray product, the next generation of DVDs until June 20. Hardware delays had been announced previously.
With the goal of releasing the new format titles at the same time as the new hardware, set for launch in June, it is not surprising that the release of the DVDs to be played on the new hardware have also been delayed.
The Next Generation DVD Arrives: The Battle Begins
April 18, 2006
Industry Readies for HD DVD Launch | www.homemediaretailing.com
Listen my children and you shall hear…. those are the words of Longfellow about Paul Revere and his famous ride that began on April 18, 1775. The poem talks about Revere’s ride to warn the countryside about the British arriving.
On this, the eighteenth of April in 2006, the first HD DVD product has arrived from Toshiba. Touted as the next generation of DVD, it is a wonder if anyone outside of a small handful of people will know that it has arrived, perhaps not even some of the early adopters. Several studios will be releasing product in that format.
Before long Sony and its partners will begin deployment of their Blu-Ray next generation DVD players. Several studios will be releasing product in that format as well.
Each format has its pros and cons.
A format war is upon us. A lot of money on both sides of the issue is at stake. Only time will tell how the war ends and who the casualties will be.
Digital Cinema Becoming a Real Reality
April 18, 2006
Access Integrated Technologies' Subsidiary... Receives Commitment for 7-year $217M Senior Credit Fac | www.dcinematoday.com
Securing the financing to buy the equipment as Access IT has done is an important step forward in the deployment of digital cinema in the US and in the rest of the world.
With the Carmike circuit agreeing to convert all of its 2,300 screens between now and October 2007, the challenge ahead for Access IT (AIX) and its chief competitor, Thomson/Technicolor, is to make sure their equipment suppliers can meet the deadlines to insure that the project’s installations are completed on time and on budget. This also assumes that the number of qualified technicians needed to install, test and troubleshoot as necessary, can be found.
Since July 2005, the technical standards have been in place to enable the equipment suppliers and the studios distributing content digitally to meet their goals.
As such, the elements are in place for deployment of digital cinema over the next several years.
Disney Letting Them Have it Their Way
April 17, 2006
ABC to Offer Shows Free in Online Tests | www.latimes.com
Disney is once again leading the way by enabling its customers, the viewing public, to have their favorite shows their way.
With the announcement this week that “Desperate Housewives,” “Lost” and other highly rated shows will be available for free at abc.com the day after broadcast, the Company is working diligently to seek the most revenue from its product in a rapidly changing business environment. They recognize that to succeed they must seek the customer where the customer is.
Driven by a critical mass of technology tools, the traditional ways of viewing entertainment content have changed dramatically. This is not only impacting the TV business, but it is impacting the movie business as well, as other studios have recently made announcements as to how they will also allow downloads of movies, albeit not for free.
April 17, 2006
Global Trends in Digital Content Production and Distribution | media.cgland.com
This is evident in the success that Disney and others have enjoyed with iTunes, the recent studio announcements regarding sales of movies via download in some cases day and date with the DVD release and the recent Disney announcement of offering select ABC shows for free online.
Computer animation and high end visual effects are impacting the production pipeline with production often occurring in multiple off shore locations simultaneously amid a continual enhancement of the creative and technical skills found in lower wage countries.
Furthermore, the continued roll out of digital cinema screens and the expected continued deployment of 3D stereo content and other digital offerings at movie theaters, is a major part of the global trends in digital content production and distribution.
2005 saw a significant shift in the product was produced and distributed. 2006 will see a greater number of changes.
Not Necessarily the King of All Media
April 12, 2006
Trying to Corral Stern's Lost Herd | www.latimes.com
With all that has been written in these GLG News pages about the shrinking audience for radio, one of the biggest radio draws, Howard Stern, has not been mentioned.
Much has been written about Stern and his year long plus crusade for Sirius that resulted in a significant number of added subscribers to the service. This crusade garnered a sizeable bonus for Mr. Stern and enough attention to warrant a suit from his former employer, CBS.
The hype though has not quite turned into reality as evidenced in this article by the fact that only about 1 – 2 million of his 12 million former listeners followed him to Sirius as their pied piper. A comparable number are spread among his several replacements. The balance of 8 – 10 million listeners have become a part of the fragmented radio audience.
In the end, the radio audience likes free.
Transitioning to Tapeless Technologies May Lead to New Rounds of Capital Expenditures
April 10, 2006
TAPE- LESS REVOLUTION | www.emmys.org
Thursday evening, April 6, 2006 I attended a seminar hosted by The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the organization also know as the TV Academy, home of the Emmys. Approximately 150 - 200 were in attendance.
The purpose of the seminar was to present to the Academy’s membership some of the latest tools and techniques that are in use currently and those that are on the horizon for TV production. These tools extend themselves to other forms of production as well, including features, commercials and music videos.
The essence of the event is that with today’s digital technologies, especially as they relate to the ongoing transition to high definition production and broadcast, the pipeline is changing considerably.
Over the years in TV production film gave way to tape and now there is a tapeless revolution in process. This is resulting in a DTE or direct to edit phase of production.
Implementation of these technologies across the production community may result in a series of capital expenditures by the various equipment supply houses that will ultimately benefit the technology developers and the studios that produce the entertainment.
A Dip in the Home Video Revenue Stream
April 6, 2006
Individual Hits Can't Stem DVD Sales Decline | www.hollywoodreporter.com
Consumer spending on video purchases fell 4.3% in the first quarter of 2006 compared with 2005, while rental spending lagged 4.4%, according to preliminary estimates by Home Media Retailing.
As happens, select product such as the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and King Kong had spectacular initial unit sales figures, with the former released in early April, but these success stories were not sufficient to prevent the downturn in total DVD sales which may indicate a continuing trend.
There were 14.3% fewer titles released during the first quarter of 2006 than in the same quarter in the prior year.
HD and the Olympics in China: Bringing in the Gold
April 6, 2006
China: Government to Use Olympics as HD Driver | www.tvtechnology.com
China is using the expansion of HD for the forthcoming Olympics as a driver for HD in that country. Its impact will be felt globally.
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