Digital Copy, Sold to the Highest Bidder

The practice of including a digital copy with a DVD or Blu-ray Disc appears to have really caught on. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment alone has released 60 discs with digital copy, while 20th Century Fox has about 40. And the activation rate — the percentage of consumers who actually use the digital copy that comes with their DVD or Blu-ray Disc — is getting higher and higher, with several studio executives telling me it's now at around 20%. If anyone's wondering where the non-activated digital copies go, look no further than eBay. I did a search for "digital copy only" this morning and got about two dozen hits under the DVD/Blu-ray Disc category, ranging from opening bids of 99 cents to "buy it now" prices as high as $9.99 (for Transformers).

To view additional postings, visit the homepage for TK’s Take: http://www.homemediamagazine.com/blog/tks-take

Shakeup at Best Buy

There's been another changing of the guard at Best Buy, sources say. Jill Hamburger, for years the consumer electronics chain's point person with the Hollywood studios, has reportedly taken a buyout, while the top DVD and Blu-ray Disc buyer has left the company. Hamburger’s former boss, Julie Owens, is reportedly the studios’ new contact; at last January’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Owens — Best Buy’s SVP of entertainment and digital applications — picked up Best Buy’s “retailer of the year” award from DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group. Hamburger's position as VP of movies and games has long been one of the most important in the home entertainment retail sector, since the chain is one of the three largest sellers of DVD and Blu-ray Disc software in the country (Wal-Mart is No. 1 and Target Stores, No. 2). Hamburger's two predecessors, Gary Arnold and Joe Pagano, were both frequent guests at studio junkets, and Pagano was even hailed as Billboard's video "man of the year" in the late 1990s for his aggressive stance toward DVD.

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And We Have a Winner — By a Nose!

Just posted this week's chart story, and you have your choice of where to read it: in Home Media Magazine (www.homemediamagazine.com/research/pinocchio-tops-sales-charts-15061) or in The Hollywood Reporter ().

To view additional postings, visit the homepage for TK’s Take.

Some ‘Role Model,’ Eh?

I won’t be filing my weekly chart story until later today, but in the meantime I thought I would share with you some early tidbits. It seems the marketing executives at Universal Studios Home Entertainment are ecstatic over the performance of the comedy Role Models, which they released to stores on DVD and Blu-ray Disc a week ago Tuesday (March 10). The first day the title was in stores, consumers snapped up 25% of the initial shipment, and after six days a whopping 70% of inventory had already found its way into consumer homes—more than 2 million units. Smiles also are seen over at the Santa Monica, Calif. headquarters of Lionsgate, which says its release last week of Transporter 3 boasts the week’s No. 1 conversion rate (that’s how well a film performs on home video in relation to its box office earnings).

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Rental Rebound?

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CDs Lose Ground to Digital

Just read the new report from The NPD Group that found there were nearly 17 million fewer CD buyers in 2008 compared to the prior year. The decline in CD buyers cut across all demos, but was particularly focused on teens and consumers ages 50 and up. The number of Internet users paying for digital music increased by about 8 million in 2008 to 36 million, according to the report. Purchases of online digital music downloads increased 29% since last year and now account for 33% of all music tracks purchased in the United States.

The press released quoted Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for The NPD Group and an old friend of Home Media Magazine, as saying, "Rising incidence of paid downloads is a positive development for the industry, but not all lost CD buyers are turning to digital music." Interesting — this underscores the importance of keeping packaged media alive and healthy, because you're not going to make up for it on the digital side. 
 

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Bishop Tells It Like It Is

Box Office Bodes Well

I just finished covering the weekend's box office for USA Today.

Interesting — the box office is up 12% in revenue and 15% in attendance this year, and distributors are saying the audience for movies is broadening beyond their core demographic. Hopefully this will begin translating to our business.

You can read my story :

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I’ve Finally Joined the Blogosphere

Thomas K. Arnold

Our new digital marketing guru, Amy Coronato, told me it’s high time I hit the blogosphere. So at the end of this week, from what I’m told, we’ll be live and you can read my brand-new blog at www.homemediamagazine.com/blog/tks-take.

I’ll admit I haven’t been looking forward to being tied to the computer even more than I already am, what with story commitments, budgeting, e-mailing and IMing. And that’s just on the business side of my life. On the personal side I am an avid photographer, videographer and chronicler of the Arnold family’s various activities, not to mention my newfound affinity with Twitter and Facebook — both of which I’ve embraced with gusto, to the point where my Twitter followers now know just about everything I’m doing every minute of the day — within reason, of course.

But back to the blog. In essence, I am committing to being online virtually around the clock simply because there’s so much happening in our home entertainment business that I can’t begin to write it all in lengthy, well-researched news stories and thoughtful, analytical commentaries.

As I state in my first blog entry: “Much of what happens I want to tell you about NOW. I have opinions of things that need to come out NOW. And quite honestly, thanks to Facebook and Twitter, I have become quite accustomed to living much of my life on the computer, communicating to folks in blog fashion.

“You might not always like what you read, you might disagree with some of my opinions, and you might have tidbits or suggestions you’d like to pass along. More power to you — and please let me know at tarnold@questex.com.

“I plan on updating my blog once, twice a day, whenever the spirit moves me, so please check back often. Consider this my own running commentary on the $22 billion home entertainment industry, from DVDs and Blu-ray Discs to digital copies, digital downloads and however else someone will think of to bring entertainment to you.”

There you have it. Now, please tune in.

Thomas K. Arnold’s blog can be found at www.homemediamagazine.com/blog/tks-take.