TIME WARNER CHIEF URGES STUDIOS TO MODERNIZE HOME VIDEO

According to Time Warner chief Jeff Bewkes the reason that consumers have flocked to kiosks like Redbox and online stores like Apple’s iTunes has little to do with price and everything to do with convenience and ease-of-use. Speaking to a media conference in Palm Beach, FL, Bewkes observed that a study of the behavior of […]

BLU-RAY A BOON FOR HOME VIDEO

It wasn’t all gloom and doom for the home video industry last year. According to a note to clients from Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne, sales of movies on Blu-ray Discs increased 11 percent, with Blu-ray representing 27 percent of the top titles of the year. The Morgan Stanley note observed that Blu-ray sales for […]

DISNEY TO LAY OFF 250; OTHER STUDIOS MAY FOLLOW

Noting sweeping changes in the way movies are being distributed these days — on small, inexpensive discs rather than bulky, expensive film reels — and a downturn in sales of DVDs, published reports said on Monday that Disney plans to lay off about 250 persons, mostly in its distribution and home video units. Several reports […]

NETFLIX — FIRST, THE GOOD NEWS

Netflix said Monday that while it mailed out fewer DVDs during the first quarter of this year versus the same quarter last year, its profits rose a whopping 86 percent. Online streaming accounted for the growth, the company said, as many of its 23.6 million subscribers (up from 14 million last year) opted to view […]

VIACOM CHIEF: NO PARAMOUNT MOVIES FOR APPLE TV

Paramount movies and Viacom’s cable programs won’t be coming to iTunes or Apple’s new Apple TV device if Steve Jobs sticks to his 99-cent pricing. As reported by Home Media Magazine, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman told an investor group in New York last week: “We don’t think that works for us. We don’t think that […]