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Home Media Crossing Borders

16 Dec, 2013 By: Stephanie Prange

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As perhaps you have noticed, Home Media Magazine is expanding its scope. In the Oct. 14 issue we took a look at , and in this issue we explore the Canadian home entertainment market. Both are part of our initiative to grow coverage of the increasingly important international market for entertainment.

While in the United States we may think of ourselves as the center of the entertainment universe, home entertainment takes a different shape in each territory based on customs and laws. Competition varies for digital, packaged media and theatrical players. In Canada, Cineplex spans the entertainment distribution chain, and Cineplex’s Malcolm Clarke, the subject of our 6 Questions feature, offers a unique perspective on the Canadian market.

Studios also test concepts internationally. Cineplex was at the forefront of SuperTicket, which marries home entertainment with the theatrical experience.

“SuperTicket provides Cineplex the opportunity to engage the customer at the start of the film life cycle and allows our guests to gain access to the digital copy of the movie first,” Clarke noted. “First and foremost, SuperTicket is about building a relationship with our customers. We build that relationship by providing value.”

Redbox may be a fixture in U.S. neighborhoods, but the kiosk goliath is just getting started in Canada. Netflix, too, doesn’t have such a big footprint North of the border as it does in the domestic market. Still, opportunities abound as brick-and-mortar stores recede.

“There are not [a lot] of resident Canadian digital services in the market,” said Charlie Miller, director of global licensing and multimedia services with BlackBerry, which serves the Canadian market.

The bottom line is that studios that are increasingly looking to international markets for growth may find that the territory is quite different from the U.S. marketplace, requiring a different disc and digital delivery strategy. International markets also offer a venue for experimentation.

We plan to continue to explore these differences.

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