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SAG Union Actors Reject Video Game Contract Deal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 22, 2005 - 8:53am.
Los Angeles -- The Screen Actors Guild (SAG), a trade union representing Hollywood's actors, has announced that its members have voted to reject the contract agreement recently reached between the union's negotiating committee and video game publishers. The deal avoided a potential strike among actors who lend their voices and likenesses to video games. Video game publishers rejected actors' demands to earn residuals for their performances, based on video game sales, although the agreement did provide a pay hike and improved benefits. "The video game market has grown to be enormously profitable, and our members have played a tremendous role in generating those profits," said SAG national executive director Greg Hessinger. "While the tentative agreement reached included several key gains, the Guild's National Executive Committee has made the final determination that this proposal was not enough. We will now explore our options." While SAG members voted to reject the contract, the agreement was approved by another major actors' union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). Many voice-over actors belong to both unions, so the SAG contract breakdown is not expected to have a major impact on game production.
tags: Deals | Video Game | Actors | SAG | Contracts |

Report: Global Media, Entertainment Revenue to Hit $1.8 Trillion in 2009

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 22, 2005 - 8:51am.
New York -- The global entertainment and media industry is projected to grow at a 7.3% compound annual growth rate, from $1.3 trillion last year to $1.8 trillion in 2009, spurred by improved economic conditions, an advertising upswing, and increased focus on online distribution of music, films, books and video games, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2005-2009 report. Fueled by broadband adoption, the Internet sector for entertainment and media is expected to grow at a 17% CAGR, reaching $289 billion in 2009, while online advertising will grow at a 16% CAGR to $32 billion the same year. New spending streams on broadband and wireless distribution platforms will grow revenues for those sectors from $11.4 billion in 2004 to nearly $73 billion by 2009. "The entertainment and media industry continues to display an extraordinary ability to reinvent itself and create new revenue streams through innovative offerings that barely existed as recently as 2000," said PwC's Wayne Jackson. "Online and wireless video games, online film rental subscriptions, licensed digital distribution of music, and the rapid adoption of ring tones and mobile music downloads are becoming critical components of the industry and driving significant revenues across all regions."
tags: Reports | Global Media | Entertainment Revenue |

Apple Sued for Patent Infringement of iTunes User Interface

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 22, 2005 - 8:50am.
San Francisco -- Apple Computer has been sued for patent infringement, by a software developer that claims Apple stole the user interface for its iTunes music player, AppleInsider.com reported. Vermont-based Contois Music Technology sued Apple in federal court last week, asking for an injunction to stop distribution of iTunes, in addition to unspecified damages for "willful" copyright infringement -- which, if agreed on by the court, would yield triple the normal monetary award. The suit alleges that Contois showed its design for a user interface for music player software at trade shows including COMDEX in 1995 and NAMM in 1996, where current and future Apple employees saw it and then incorporated it into iTunes -- which was first released in 2001. Contois claims it notified Apple of the infringement in September 2004, but believes the company learned of its patent in January 2003.
tags: Apple | iTunes | Infringement |

AOL, MTV, Premiere Radio, XM to Broadcast Live 8 Charity Concerts

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 22, 2005 - 8:31am.
New York -- America Online, the webcast partner for the upcoming Live 8 charity concerts, announced on Wednesday that it has licensed U.S. broadcast rights for the July 2 concerts to MTV Networks, Premiere Radio Networks and XM Satellite Radio. Under the deal, the multi-city concerts will be seen live on MTV, and heard live on radio stations owned by Premiere, as well as by XM Satellite Radio subscribers. AOL said it will offer free live streaming video from five cities hosting concerts, and provide additional coverage through a team of on-site bloggers. AOL will also offer the concerts for free on-demand for six weeks following the event.
tags: MTV | AOL | XM | Broadcast | Premiere Radio | Charity Concerts |

Kodak, Barco to Jointly Market Digital Cinema Projectors

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 22, 2005 - 8:30am.
Los Angeles -- Two providers of digital cinema projection systems -- Eastman Kodak and Barco -- announced on Wednesday they have teamed to market and sell each others' technologies. While Kodak provides digital cinema systems to theaters for pre-show use, Barco is one of three licensees of Texas Instruments' DLP Cinema technology and has installed nearly 200 of its digital projectors for movie theater screens worldwide. In addition to selling and marketing each others' products, Kodak and Barco will also collaborate on service and support, and systems development. "In North America, we believe the partnership will provide an enhanced digital cinema solution for our studio, postproduction, feature film, and exhibition customers by offering Kodak's service network, systems integration, and support infrastructure along with Barco's digital projection solutions," said Barco Digital Cinema executive vice president Scott Spector.
tags: Digital Cinema | Kodak | Projectors | Barco |

Japan's Cybird Buys Mobile Entertainment Firm Airborne for $90 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 22, 2005 - 8:29am.
Montreal -- Canadian mobile entertainment publisher Airborne Entertainment announced on Wednesday that it has agreed to be acquired by Japan's Cybird, a provider of mobile content services, for about $90 million. Founded in 2000, Montreal-based Airborne has produced mobile games based on licenses from MAXIM Magazine, Fox, Donald Trump and others; Cybird has created mobile content sites for NTT DoCoMo, au and Vodafone that count a combined 3.6 million subscribers. Cybird said it would benefit from Airborne's content library and distribution deals with North American wireless carriers, while Airborne will gain greater access for its products in the lucrative Asian wireless market. Airborne will become a subsidiary of Cybird and maintain its current management team.
tags: Japan | Airborne | Mobile Entertainment | Cybird |

Report: MP3 Player Market to Hit 104 Million Units in 2009

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 22, 2005 - 8:27am.
Scottsdale, Ariz. -- The MP3 player market is poised to grow from 27.8 million units shipped in 2004 to 104 million by 2009, driven by falling prices, more legitimate digital music services, smaller hard drives and increased flash memory storage capacity, according to a report from market research firm In-Stat. Combined revenue for hard drive- and flash memory-based MP3 players reached $4.5 billion in 2004, up nearly 200% from 2003. Meanwhile, U.S. households owning a digital music player have grown from 16% in 2001 to 25% in 2005. In-Stat noted that Apple currently holds 30% market share for combined sales of hard drive and flash memory MP3 players. It also predicts that flash memory players with 1GB or greater capacities will make up 20% of that market by the end of this year. "As competition heats up, vendors are striving to differentiate products by offering a wide range of price points, memory capacities, and features," said In-Stat analyst Stephanie Guza.
tags: Reports | Hit | MP3 Players |

Oregon Bank Launches Local Artist Custom CD Promotion

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 22, 2005 - 8:26am.
Portland, Ore. -- Umpqua Bank, a large community bank in the Pacific Northwest, on Wednesday announced the launch of a promotion for new accountholders, who will be able to browse a catalog of tracks from local Portland artists and create their own custom 10-song mix CD. Umpqua partnered with Portland-based licensing company Rumblefish to provide tracks for its Discover Local Music program, which will be offered in the fall at select stores in Oregon, Washington and California, as well as from UmpquaMusic.com. "The Discover Local Music program is a way for Umpqua Bank to showcase and support local artists while interacting with customers and the community on an entirely new level," said Umpqua Bank CEO Ray Davis.
tags: CD | Artist | Oregon Bank | Custom |