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DVDWal-Mart, Amazon, Target in Pre-Order DVD Price WarAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 10:38am.
New York
- After retail giant Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) cut the price of pre-order DVDs on its website to
$10 on Thursday, rivals Amazon (NASD: AMZN) and Target (NYSE: TGT) followed suit by lowering their own pre-order
DVD prices to $9.99, the Associated Press reported. On Friday morning, Wal-Mart
responded by further discounting pre-order DVDs to $9.98. The price-cutting
wars followed a similar battle over book prices amongst the three retailers --
which in recent weeks pushed prices as low as $8.98.
Walmart.com Prices Top 10 Pre-Order DVDs at $10Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 5, 2009 - 1:28pm.
Brisbane,
Calif. - Walmart.com (NYSE: WMT) is now
offering a $10 price tag and free home delivery on its top ten pre-order DVD
and Blu-ray movie titles. Titles available through the offer include
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "Star Trek" and
"Julie and Julia." The DVD promotion comes as Walmart.com is engaged
in a price-cutting war with Amazon and Target.
Redbox Experimenting with $2 DVD Kiosk RentalsAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 3, 2009 - 10:32am.
Los Angeles
- Redbox, the unit of Coinstar (NASD: CSTR) that operates automated DVD rental kiosks, is
testing new price points above its current standard $1 per night model, Video
Business reported. The company, which operates some 18,000 kiosks, is testing
$2 per night -- for the first night -- rentals in Pennsylvania,
and a nightly $1.50 per night rate in New
Mexico. Redbox said in August that it would test
different pricing models, as well as experiment with Blu-ray and video game
titles in its kiosks.
Redbox to Rent Summit, NCircle DVD Titles in KiosksAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on November 2, 2009 - 11:38am.
Oakbrook Terrace,
Ill. - Redbox, the automated DVD
rental kiosk unit of Coinstar (NASD: CSTR), announced on Monday that it has signed new two-year
distribution agreements with Summit Entertainment and NCircle Entertainment. Summit's recent films
include "Twilight" and "Knowing," while NCircle distributes
mainly children's titles, such as "Richard Scarry's Busytown
Mysteries," and "Sid the Science Kid." Redbox operates a network
of 15,000 $1-per-night automated DVD rental kiosks in the U.S.
Netflix: 42% of Members Streaming; Service to Expand OverseasAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 23, 2009 - 9:21am.
Los Gatos,
Calif. - Online DVD rental
service Netflix (NASD: NFLX) plans to make its on-demand Web streaming service available internationally
next year, CEO Reed Hastings said on Thursday during an earnings call,
PaidContent reported.
WSJ: Walmart Cutting Back on DVD DisplaysAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 5, 2009 - 10:42am.
New York - Retail giant
Walmart (NYSE: WMT), which sells nearly one-third of all DVDs purchased in the U.S., is
eliminating corrugated cardboard display cases from the aisles of its stores,
The Wall Street Journal reported. "We think the new strategy implies
Wal-Mart no longer sees DVDs and Blu-ray discs as traffic drivers," J.P.
Morgan analyst Imran Khan told The Journal. DVD revenues for the studios have
been on the decline, in the face of the economy and competition from new
automated rental kiosks like Redbox.
Netflix CEO Wants to Add Streaming for PS3, WiiAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on September 23, 2009 - 12:52pm.
New York
- Online DVD rental service Netflix (NASD: NFLX) hopes to expand its reach beyond
Microsoft's (NASD: MSFT) Xbox 360 to offer content streaming on the Wii, PlayStation 3 and
other capable devices, Reuters reports. CEO Reed Hastings reiterated for
Reuters that the company's current deal with Microsoft for the feature is
exclusive. Hastings
added that he'd like to see Netflix on the iPhone, but that is "likely to
come over time."
Netflix Awards $1M Prize to Developers; Sets New ContestAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on September 21, 2009 - 7:45am.
 New York
- Online DVD rental service Netflix (NASD: NFLX) on Monday doled out its $1 million Netflix
Prize to a group of engineers and researchers who were able to improve the
accuracy of the company's movie recommendation system by 10%. The team
"BellKor's Pragmatic Chaos," consisting of three teams that had
previously competed against one another, was awarded the $1 million prize
offered by the contest, which Netflix launched in 2006.
Microsoft, U.K. Retailer Tesco Team on 'Virtual DVD' ServiceAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on September 9, 2009 - 12:06pm.
London - Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) announced
on Wednesday that it has partnered with U.K. retail chain Tesco on a new
"Virtual DVD" service, that will allow Tesco customers who purchase
DVD and Blu-ray movies to download a digital copy to their computers. The
digital copies will have "a similar level of video quality, interactivity
and bonus content" as the hard copy, in addition to network-connected
features like auto-updated trailers, viewing parties with online chat, MP3s,
ringtones and networked games.
Blockbuster Cuts Size of Viacom Debt by $50 MillionAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on September 2, 2009 - 8:08am.
Dallas - Video rental giant Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) announced on Wednesday
that it has reduced the amount of letters of credit maintained for former
parent company Viacom (NYSE: VIA) by $50 million, from $75 million to $25 million, in a bid
to improve liquidity.
NCR to Put Blockbuster DVD Rental Kiosks in Big Y StoresAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on August 27, 2009 - 10:24am.
Duluth, Ga.
- NCR (NYSE: NCR), a maker of automated kiosks, announced on Thursday that it will install
Blockbuster Express (NYSE: BBI) DVD rental kiosks in 57 Big Y grocery stores in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
The kiosks can house up to 800 DVDs, which cost $1 per night to rent. NCR said it
will invest up to $60 million this year to build out its DVD rental kiosk
operations. It expects to deploy more than 2,500 in 2009, making for a total of
10,000 kiosks by mid-2010.
Paramount Enters Trial with DVD Rental Kiosk Firm RedboxAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on August 26, 2009 - 1:21pm.
Hollywood
Calif. - DVD rental kiosk firm
Redbox, a unit of Coinstar (NASD: CSTR), announced on Wednesday that it has signed a trial
licensing program agreement with Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Paramount Home Entertainment, to
provide Paramount DVD releases to Redbox kiosks through the end of 2009. Paramount will provide
its titles to Redbox on the same date as their official release date -- a
source of contention for a number of other studios that has resulted in ongoing
litigation. Redbox also agreed to destroy its used Paramount DVDs rather than
put them up for resale. Paramount
then has the option to extend the program to 2014.
Report: DVD Rental Kiosks to Take 30% of Market Next YearAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on August 26, 2009 - 11:42am.
Port Washington,
N.Y. - Automated video rental
kiosks, operated by companies like Redbox (NASD: CSTR), are expected to grow from 19% of the
total market in the first half of 2009 to 30% of the total market next year,
according to a report from market research firm NPD Group.
DVD Rental Kiosk Firm Redbox Sues Warner Home VideoAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on August 19, 2009 - 9:16am.
 Oakbrook Terrace,
Ill. - Redbox, a unit of Coinstar (NASD: CSTR)
that operates over 17,000 $1-per-night DVD rental kiosks, has filed suit
against Warner Home Video (NYSE: TWX), alleging the studio is degrading consumers' rights
by limiting distribution of its DVDs to Redbox until 28 days after they go on
sale. Last week, Redbox filed a similar suit against News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) 20th Century
Fox, and yesterday, a federal court dismissed two motions in Redbox's lawsuit
against Universal (NYSE: GE).
tags: Law | Lawsuits | Movies | DVD | Warner Bros. | Kiosks | Copyright | Universal Pictures | News Corp. | 20%% | Redbox |
Redbox Antitrust Lawsuit Against Universal to ProceedAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on August 18, 2009 - 9:08am.
 Oakbrook Terrace,
Ill. - Redbox, a unit of Coinstar (NASD: CSTR)
that operates a network of DVD rental kiosks, said on Tuesday that a federal
court has allowed its antitrust lawsuit against Universal Studios Home
Entertainment (NYSE: GE) to proceed, denying the studio's motion to dismiss. "The
Federal Court's decision marks an important step forward in our effort to
protect consumers' right to convenient, affordable access to new release DVDs
at redbox locations nationwide," said Redbox president Mitch Lowe.
tags: Law | Lawsuits | Movies | DVD | Warner Bros. | Kiosks | News Corp. | Universal Studios | 20%% | Redbox |
Appeals Court: DVD-Copying Kaleidescape Device IllegalAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on August 13, 2009 - 3:35am.
 San Jose,
Calif. - A federal appeals court
has overturned a favorable ruling for Kaleidescape, a maker of high-capacity
DVD home video servers, and ordered a lower court to make another
determination on whether the devices violate a license for the studios' DVD encryption technology. The 6th
District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the DVD Copy Control Association
(DVD CCA), a standards body created by the Hollywood
movie studios that own the encryption technology on DVDs, which had argued that
the Kaleidescape machine circumvents that encryption to copy DVDs to its
server.
DVD Kiosk Firm Redbox Sues 20th Century FoxAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on August 12, 2009 - 12:00pm.
Oakbrook Terrace,
Ill. - Redbox, the DVD rental
kiosk unit of Coinstar (NASD: CSTR), said on Wednesday that it has filed suit in federal
court against News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) 20th Century Fox movie studio, over Fox's decision
to delay distribution of new release titles to Redbox kiosks until 30 days
after public release. "At the expense of consumers, 20th Century Fox is
attempting to prohibit timely consumer access to its new release DVDs at redbox
retail locations nationwide," said Redbox president Mitch Lowe.
Judge Declares RealNetworks' DVD-Copying Software IllegalAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on August 12, 2009 - 11:48am.
 San Francisco
- A federal judge has ruled that RealNetworks' (NASD: RNWK) DVD-copying RealDVD software
product violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and has banned
its distribution. "This is a victory for the creators and producers of
motion pictures and television shows and for the rule of law in our digital
economy," said Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) CEO Dan
Glickman.
HD DVD Developer Toshiba to Produce Blu-ray DevicesAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on August 10, 2009 - 11:57am.
Wayne, N.J. - Japanese consumer electronics firm
Toshiba -- developer of the now-discontinued HD DVD next-generation disc format
-- has announced plans to begin developing products based on rival Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Blu-ray
format. "To meet the increasing consumer demand for high definition
content, Toshiba America Consumer Products, L.L.C. will be entering the Blu-ray
market. We will share additional product information and details later this
year," the company said.
Netflix Authorizes $300 Million Stock Buyback PlanAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on August 7, 2009 - 8:25am.
Los Gatos,
Calif. - Online DVD rental
service Netflix (NASD: NFLX) announced on Friday that its board has authorized a plan to
repurchase up to $300 million in company shares through 2010.
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