Europe's premier online source of news, data & analysis for professionals involved in DVD, Blu-ray and new delivery technologies
The best of British talent and skills was honoured at the British Video Association's Annual Awards ceremony in Old Billingsgate, London, on Thursday. In the year that Britain hosts the Olympic Games ... Read more...
Creative industry practitioners from The Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Germany and Ireland have already signed up to join their British counterparts at the forthcoming London Video Rendezvous on 18... Read more...
In the wake of China's record-breaking box-office opening of Titanic 3D, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Sony have announced an exclusive, large-scale bundling partnership for the ... Read more...
When all is said about the popularity of Smart TV, GfK analysts expect 3DTVs to witness the highest growth rate - 122% - this year in Europe in the television product category. Smart TVs come in second... Read more...
US consumers spent a total of $4.45bn on home entertainment in the first quarter of 2012 - a 2.47% rise over the same period last year, according to the latest figures from The Digital Entertainment Group... Read more...
Despite the British economy falling back into recession, the video entertainment market remained steady in the first quarter of 2012, according to the British Video Association's latest announcement... Read more...
Executives from news media, publishing, TV, film, music, IT and Internet media businesses have teamed up with existing standards and licensing organisations to work in coalition on a cross-media global... Read more...
Entertainment Distribution Company, Europe's largest independent CD and DVD replicator, is expanding its offering with the introduction of Blu-ray. The company has invested in a state-of-the-art Singulus... Read more...
In the run-up for the French presidential election, the video publishers' association SEVN had submitted to the candidates five proposals aimed at defending and strengthening their market... Read more...
Games platform Xbox LIVE has joined the film and TV industry body Industry Trust for IP Awareness as it launches a month-long pro-copyright Moments Worth Paying For campaign to 16-24 year-old males... Read more...
European broadcasting is today an €84 billion sector, and commercial broadcasters contribute €15 billion annually by investing in programme content in the digital economy, according to a new... Read more...
A new IBM study of the media and entertainment market reveals that, as consumers adopt an increasing number of digital devices, four distinct new "digital personalities" are emerging. This shift is compelling... Read more...
Renesas Electronics, a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, will incorporate Rovi's DivX Plus Streaming technology into its integrated circuit for connected home entertainment devices... Read more...
London Video Rendezvous - created by DVD Intelligence - is a new event aimed at addressing concrete, practical issues and concerns the authoring/post-production houses, their client publishers and independent... Read more...
Rimage, a leader in secure digital content management and delivery solutions, has launched its Blu Lock anti-rip copy protection technology for Blu-ray Discs at Las Vegas' NAB. The system integrates directly... Read more...
If one goes by Redbox movie-rental kiosk parent Coinstar's quarterly results, the announcement of the death of the disc is premature. Fueled by strong rentals over the past two months, the Bellevue, Washington... Read more...
Companion TV Apps: viewers excited, then bored
Red Bee Media created quite a stir recently, explains DAVID MERCER, Principal Analyst at Strategy Analytics, when it launched a multi-screen TV app using Civolution's audio recognition technology to accompany FX UK's new series of The Walking Dead.
According to Bill Patrizio, Red Bee Media CEO, the app would deliver a "new dimension in engagement that fuels excitement, deepens experiences and extends consumers' enjoyment." Media producers are, indeed, increasingly seeking to extend and control the TV viewing experience across multiple screens through the introduction of tablet and smartphone co-viewing applications.
My colleague, Caroline Park, conducted an ethnographic study of this second screen app with iPhone and iPad users and reported her results in Multi-Screen TV Experiences: Observing Users of The Walking Dead Co-Viewing Application. Strategy Analytics observed six fans of the show as they experienced the latest episode while using the co-viewing app.... Read More...
MICROSOFT, in an effort to keep costs down, will ditch DVD playback support for Windows Media Player in Windows 8, though there will be the option to purchase Windows Media Center to get DVD functionality. Windows Media Player will be available within all editions of Windows 8, but users won't be able to use it to play DVDs. It's too expensive, said Microsoft in a blog post.
EMMY Award-winning Moving Picture Experts Group, developer of audio and video digital compression standards such as MP3, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 that have helped launch the multi-million dollar MP3, set top box, DVD and mobile communication industries and are used by millions of people worldwide on a daily basis, holds its 100th meeting in Geneva, Switerland, on 30 April-4 May 2012.
VIDEO rental company Netflix has no plans to sell its DVD division, Chief Executive Reed Hastings said during a conference call with analysts. Some industry analysts have speculated Netflix might sell the DVD unit as it turns into a company that streams movies and TV shows to Internet-connected televisions and devices. Once the darling of the home entertainment industry, the company has had a brutal year, thanks to a series of major missteps in its attempt to transition from discs to streaming.
ENTERTAINMENT Distribution Company (EDC) obtained accreditation to the CDSA's Content Protection Security Programme. The accreditation, which forms part of the CDSA's Anti-Piracy & Compliance Programme (APCP), is the second accreditation granted to EDC which has held accreditation in the Copyright and Licensing Verification Programme since 2002. In March of this year, EDC also received accreditation from SEDEX which strives to drive improvements in responsible and ethical practices in global supply chains.
US RETAILER Best Buy now offers new release and catalogue Blu-ray Discs at the same price as the equivalent DVD provided customers trade in a used disc, according to a report. Home Media Magazine reported that Best Buy offers customers a $5 coupon for each DVD traded in, with a limit of five, to be used to obtain Blu-ray Discs without UltraViolet.
DUPLICO, a leading Spanish disc replicator based in Barcelona is about to end its activities, DVD Intelligence has learnt.
AS PART of US Ambassador Gary Locke's Roundtable on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Protection, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) together with major Chinese online video sites Youku, Sohu, iQiyi, and LeTV have unveiled a 'Thank You' video featuring nearly 100 of China's leading actors and filmmakers. Heeding a call from the MPA, China's film community turned out in droves to deliver personal messages of thanks to the sites' hundreds of millions of users and a call for support of legitimate online screen content - with the full backing of China's burgeoning online video industry.
SONY Pictures Home Entertainment UK announced three of the studio's hottest summer releases, Jack & Jill, The Vow and 21 Jump Street, will arrive in stores through June and July 2012 with UltraViolet digital versions of the movies included with their respective Blu-ray Discs and DVDs.
THE GLOBAL online movies market is forecast to reach $4.4 billion by the 2017. Prime growth factors instrumental in driving demand for online movies include skyrocketing popularity of movies, rising Internet penetration, increased prevalence of TV and DVD players, and higher digital downloads, says Global Industry Analysts in a new report.
