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ArchivesCablevision to Test Server-Based Digital Video Recorder ServiceAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 31, 2006 - 8:24am.
New York - Cable TV provider Cablevision announced this week that it plans to test a new network-based digital video recorder service, that would let subscribers record TV shows that are stored on the company's servers rather than a set-top box. Reuters reported that fellow cable TV providers Comcast and Time Warner Cable have voiced their support for the RS-DVR (remote-storage digital video recorder) technology, and would likely launch similar services if Cablevision's trial worked out. Cablevision will test RS-DVR with its Long Island, N.Y. subscribers for two months; the service will be deployed via a software download to existing set-top boxes. "Our lawyers say Cablevision is on very firm footing so long as it's fair use (by the customer)," Comcast chief operating officer Stephen Burke remarked at a conference this week, according to Reuters.
Toshiba Releases First Next-Generation HD DVD Player in JapanAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 31, 2006 - 8:21am.
Tokyo - Japanese consumer electronics firm Toshiba released its first HD DVD player in Japan on Friday, beating rival Sony to become the first to bring its next-generation DVD player to market. The Toshiba HD-XA1 will sell there for about $940. The HD-XA1 is slated for release in the U.S. later this month, where it will cost $799; another model, the HD-A1, is also slated to sell for $499. Toshiba hopes to sell between 600,000 and 700,000 HD DVD players worldwide through March 2007. Meanwhile, Sony plans to introduce its rival Blu-ray Disc DVD players in the U.S. in July, with the first models to sell for about $1,000.
Kotaku: Developers Can Pay for Preview Placement on Gamespot, GamespyAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 31, 2006 - 8:19am.
New York - Gawker Media's Kotaku games blog this week reported on practices at several gaming enthusiast websites -- including CNET Networks' Gamespot and News Corporation's IGN/Gamespy -- where game publishers and developers can pay to have previews for their titles receive more prominent placement on the sites. "You can purchase messaging plus units that increase the likelihood of an article about your game showing up on their front page," a source who was a former media buyer for various game publishers told Kotaku. Neither site makes this relationship known to its readers. The editors at both Gamespot and IGN then confirmed the existence of such practices when questioned by Kotaku. "I can confirm that GameSpot does offer publishers programs that promote their content on our site using a variety of means," Gamespot executive editor Greg Kasavin told Kotaku.
Report: Half of VNU Shareholders Set to Reject TakeoverAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 31, 2006 - 8:16am.
Amsterdam - According to a report by the Financial Times, about half of VNU's shareholders are planning to reject a $9.1 billion takeover bid recently tabled by a group of private-equity firms. VNU is the owner magazines including Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter. The private-equity group, which includes Blackstone, Carlyle Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is expected to launch its bid for VNU formally sometime next week. Quoting unnamed sources familiar with the situation, the Financial Times said that a number of shareholders -- including Fidelity International, which owns around 15% of the Netherlands-based market research firm -- would not support the offer.
U.S. Expresses "Concern" over EU-Microsoft Antitrust CaseAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 31, 2006 - 8:14am.
Brussels - According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. government has expressed concern about the European Commission's handling of its protracted antitrust case against Microsoft. The U.S. is particularly worried about Microsoft's contention that the case has been unfair because EU regulators have withheld evidence vital to the company's defense, the Wall Street Journal said. The report quotes an email from the U.S. mission to the EU as saying that, if Microsoft's allegations are true, they will be of "substantial concern" to the U.S.
Report: Average U.S. Household Owns 26 Consumer Electronics ProductsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 31, 2006 - 8:12am.
Arlington, Va. - The average U.S. household now owns 26 consumer electronics products and has spent $1,200 on products such as MP3 players, digital cameras and notebook computers over the past year, according to a new study by the Consumer Electronics Association. The study also found that analog is giving way to digital technologies across the board, and identified the top five most owned products as televisions (in 95% of households), VCRs (87%), cordless phones (85%), DVD players (81%) and wireless phones (78%). The report includes favorable findings for satellite radio, as well. Satellite radio ownership reached 10% of households as total subscribers to XM and Sirius topped the 10 million mark.
Microsoft Kicks Off Free Xbox Live Gold WeekendAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 31, 2006 - 8:09am.
Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft is offering owners of its Xbox 360 game consoles 72 hours of free access to its Xbox Live Gold online game service this weekend. The Verizon-sponsored Free Xbox Live Gold Weekend will give Xbox 360 owners, who already receive free access to a Silver version of Xbox Live, an upgrade to the $49.99 per year Gold version, which includes more advanced features and HD content downloads. The weekend will include special events like the opportunity to play "NBA 2K6" against Kamal from The Roots, or "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter" with both the game's development team at Ubisoft and the company's Frag Dolls pro gamer team.
Movie Studio MGM Launches New Media DivisionAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 31, 2006 - 8:07am.
Los Angeles - Hollywood movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) this week announced the formation of a new media division, which will oversee the company's digital distribution strategy, including broadband and wireless efforts. The company named Douglas A. Lee as executive vice president in charge of the new unit. Previously, Lee founded Lee Consulting Company, and also served in executive positions at Universal Television, 20th Century Fox and HBO. "There are numerous opportunities to grow and extend the MGM brand in the new media age," said Lee. "We will look to mine the library for new opportunities and also create new productions and initiatives for the plethora of new media opportunities that currently exist, as well as plan for new and emerging possibilities."
XOS Technologies to Share College Sports News with ESPNAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 31, 2006 - 8:04am.
Sanford, Fla. - XOS Technologies, a provider of websites for collegiate teams and conferences, has signed an agreement with ESPNU and ESPN.com for sharing of online news, information, features and video and audio assets, as well as cross-promotion programs. Florida-based XOS provides Internet publishing for about 65 sports teams, leagues and conferences, including Louisiana State University, Duke University, and the Sun Belt Conference.
Midway Games Ships "NBA Ballers: Phenom" to RetailersAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 31, 2006 - 8:01am.
Chicago - Midway Games on Friday shipped its "NBA Ballers: Phenom" title for Xbox to retailers. The sequel to Chicago-based Midway's million-plus unit-selling "NBA Ballers" is also slated for release for PlayStation 2 on April 5. Additionally, the publisher will release "NBA Ballers: Rebound" for Sony PSP on May 2. Midway will support the releases with a multi-million dollar marketing campaign that includes free copies of the in-game soundtrack, which features exclusive tracks from artists including Jin, Basement Beats and Phife Dawg.
CNET News.com: YouTube Video-Sharing Site Sees Spike in UsersAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 31, 2006 - 7:57am.
San Francisco - CNET News.com on Friday reported on YouTube, the video-sharing site that has seen the number of video streams it serves jump from 3 million a day to 30 million since launching in December 2005. The site, which claimed 4.2 million visitors in February, according to ComScore Networks, features no ads and does not charge users to upload the blend of amateur and semi-professional clips found on the site. YouTube has removed several "Saturday Night Live" clips at NBC's request, and warns users not to post videos for which they don't own the rights. "We've been meeting with almost every TV network, record label and movie studio to talk about ways to partner and help them reach a broader demographic," YouTube spokeswoman Juile Supan told News.com. "Eventually, we're going to introduce extremely relevant ads that will benefit users and won't disrupt the service."
Wired News: Vivid Entertainment to Launch "Burn to DVD" Porn DownloadsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 31, 2006 - 7:52am.
San Francisco - Wired News on Friday reported on a forthcoming offering from adult entertainment firm Vivid Entertainment that will let users purchase and download an adult film from its website, and then burn the film to a DVD that plays on standalone DVD players. "We expect the service to be extremely popular," Vivid CEO Steven Hirsch told Wired News. "Just hit the button, download and burn." Launching April 3, Vivid's Burn to DVD service will utilize a delivery system powered by All Adult Entertainment, which uses digital rights management that enforces a one burn limit on downloads. Hirsh added that Vivid shoots 80% of its productions in high-definition, and in the future the service will be upgraded to HD.
Senate Committee Holds Hearing on Violent Video Games, First AmendmentAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 30, 2006 - 9:31am.
Washington - The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights on Thursday began a hearing entitled "What's in a Game? State Regulation of Violent Video Games and the First Amendment," which featured testimony from video game industry advocates, academics, and the brother of a police officer whose killing was linked to violent games. The brother of the slain Alabama police officer, Rev. Steve Strickland, called some games "cop-killing simulators," and said his brother's teenage killer -- who was an avid player of the violent "Grand Theft Auto" game -- told police, "Life is like a video game, everyone has to die sometime." Strickland also referred repeatedly to his attorney Jack Thompson, a strong proponent for video game regulation. Patricia Vance, president of the game industry's ESRB ratings board, touted a recent Peter D. Hart Research Associates study that found 83% of parents are aware of video game ratings and 74% use them regularly, up from 78% and 70%, respectively, in 2005. The hearing was co-headed by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), who along with Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) is sponsoring a bill that would fund study of the effects of electronic media on children. The sworn testimonies of the other witnesses, as well as statements from members of the Committee, are available at a link below.
FTC Sting Finds Decrease in Sales of M-Rated Games to MinorsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 30, 2006 - 9:28am.
Washington - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday released results of a nationwide undercover operation using children ages 13-16, that found retailers are not selling as many "M" for Mature-rated video games to minors. Overall, 42% of the secret shoppers were able to purchase M-rated games between October 2005 and January 2006, down from 69% in 2003, and 85% in 2000. Enforcement of game ratings was higher among national retailers, where only 35% of secret shoppers were able to purchase an M-rated game, compared with 63% at local and regional game shops. Another aspect of the survey found that 50% of cashiers reportedly asked the child's age, up from just 12% in 2000; along those lines, 44% of retailers were found to have provided information about ratings or ratings enforcement, compared with 24% in 2004 and 15% in 2000. Later this year, the FTC plans to conduct similar operations to determine whether minors are able to purchase R-rated movie tickets and DVDs, and explicit content-labeled music recordings. "The FTC's results very clearly indicate that the nation's leading retailers of games have steadily improved and are quickly approaching the compliance rates of the Gold Standard, movie theatre owners," said Hal Halpin, president of the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association. Separately, the FTC announced that it plans to find out if parental participation in video game purchases and awareness of video game ratings has changed since a survey it conducted in 2000.
Report: Movie Studio Support Waning for Sony PSP Universal Media DiscAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 30, 2006 - 9:26am.
Los Angeles - Sony's Universal Media Disc (UMD) format, on which movies are sold for playback on its PSP handheld video game, is losing support among top movie studios, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Facing very low sales, both Paramount and Universal will likely stop releasing movies on UMD, sources told THR. "It's awful. Sales are near zilch. It's another Sony bomb," a "high-ranking executive" at Universal Studios Home Entertainment told THR. "No one's even breaking even on them," added a high-ranking executive at Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment. Studios including 20th Century Fox and Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment have also dramatically reduced the number of UMD titles they plan to release. THR noted that big retailers including Wal-Mart appear to be reducing the shelf space allotted for UMD titles. Sony, meanwhile, has seen some success on several UMD titles, and currently continues to support UMD as a movie format. "We're hoping the format's going to be reinvigorated with next-generation capability that may include living-room or normal television playback," Benjamin Feingold, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, told THR.
NBC Universal to Offer Network, Cable Shows on Comcast Video-on-DemandAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 30, 2006 - 9:23am.
Philadelphia - Comcast, the nation's largest cable TV provider, announced on Thursday an agreement with NBC Universal, to offer over a dozen of the company's most popular network and cable programs through Comcast's video-on-demand service. NBC primetime programs will become available as early as midnight following their on-air broadcast for 99 cents, while late-night and daytime programs will be available at no additional charge. NBC Universal programs offered on Comcast VOD will include NBC's "Law & Order," "The Office," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"; USA Network's "Monk"; Sci-Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica"; and Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown". Comcast said that its 21.4 million cable subscribers have viewed more than 2 billion video-on-demand programs since the company launched the service in 2004.
Warner to Offer Download of "Harry Potter" Movie Day-and-Date with DVDAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 30, 2006 - 9:21am.
Burbank, Calif. - Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group announced on Thursday that it will become the first major studio to offer a downloadable version of a film on the same day as its DVD release, when it offers "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" through partner Free Record Shop in the Netherlands and Dutch-speaking Belgium. Along with "Harry Potter," FreeRecordShop.nl will offer nearly 100 Warner Bros. films as permanent downloads, including "Ocean's Twelve," "The Matrix" trilogy, "Casablanca" and "Doctor Zhivago". The movie download service from Free Record Shop, which operates 185 stores in the Netherlands, will deliver copy-protected films using Microsoft's Windows Media format. "We are excited to be the first studio to deliver secure and legal download-to-own films through the Internet simultaneous with the film's DVD debut," said Warner HEG president Kevin Tsujihara, adding that the service will "combat piracy by providing high quality, affordable and legal downloads."
Report: 43% of U.S. Households Now Have BroadbandAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 30, 2006 - 9:19am.
Arlington, Va. - Forty-three million U.S. households now have broadband Internet access -- up from just 2 million in 1999 -- but the U.S. still ranks just fifteenth overall in worldwide broadband penetration, according to a new research study conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association. South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan all claim higher than 50% broadband penetration, while Japan is now at 49%; the U.S. also lags behind Canada, and Western European nations including Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Sweden. However, the number of U.S. dial-up accounts has fallen from 74% of all connections in 2000, to 60% in 2003, and now stands at 36%. "It is very possible that dial-up Internet connections will be a thing of the past by the end of the decade," said CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro. In the U.S. broadband market, DSL has grown in popularity from 4% of all Internet connections in 2000 -- compared to 15% for cable -- to 29% in March 2006, where it is now neck-and-neck with cable broadband.
Google to Sell More Than $2 Billion in StockAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 30, 2006 - 9:16am.
Mountain View, Calif. - Shares of Google fell nearly 2% on Thursday after the Internet search giant announced plans to sell 5.3 million shares of its stock worth more than $2 billion. The company said that the move will partially meet the anticipated needs of index funds to purchase its stock when Google is added to the S&P 500 Index at the close of trading on Friday. Google is replacing oil and gas producer Burlington Resources in the index.
Music Retailer Trans World Buys Stake in Custom CD Kiosk Firm Mix & BurnAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on March 30, 2006 - 9:13am.
Albany, N.Y. - Trans World Entertainment, a music and entertainment retail chain that operates over 1,100 stores under brands including f.y.e., Sam Goody and Wherehouse, announced on Thursday that it has acquired a controlling interest in Mix & Burn, a provider of digital content services to retailers. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. St. Paul, Minn.-based Mix & Burn develops in-store kiosks that let consumers mix custom playlists and burn them to CDs. The company plans to soon expand its service to enable downloads from the kiosks directly onto portable music and video players, and onto cell phones. "In the near future Mix & Burn will become a feature of the 'Download Zone' section of our stores as we continue to transform the store to be a source of digital as well as physical entertainment content," said Trans World president and COO Jim Litwak.
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