Well that was a downer from Disney yesterday in its fiscal Q1 earnings call. The DVD business is tanking, nothing else is taking up the slack and we have to spend less money making movies. The "conversion rate" for new releases (i.e. the ratio of DVDs sold per million dollars of box-office gross) is falling, consumers are buying fewer catalog titles, shelf-space is disappearing and prices are plummeting. And oh, yeah: the rest of businesses pretty much suck right now, too. It sure didn't sound like the happiest place on earth.

Los Angeles - DVD sales were down 9% in 2008, a year that saw the entire home video market decline in value by 5.5% to $22.4 billion, Variety reported, citing data from market research firm Digital Entertainment Group.

San Francisco - Dolby Laboratories (NYSE: DLB) is in talks with content providers on integrating its digital 3D technology into Blu-ray movies and video games, Reuters reports. The technology would work using standard Blu-ray players and 3D glasses, along with 3D-enabled televisions from companies like Samsung or Mitsubishi.

Burbank, Calif. - Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Warner Bros. said on Wednesday that its "The Dark Knight" sold a record 1.7 million units on Blu-ray in one week, and is set to become the best-selling 2008 title overall this week. The company said combined Blu-ray and DVD sales worldwide during the first week totaled 13.5 million. Warner Bros. added that so far, the digital copy of the film included on Blu-ray and Special Edition DVD has been activated nearly 300,000 times by consumers.

Tokyo - Sales of Blu-ray Disc recorders beat sales of DVD recorders in Japan for the first time in November, and further are replacing DVD recorders 1.5 times faster than DVD replaced VHS, GameDaily.com reported, citing data from GfK Retail and Technology. GfK credited falling prices for the uptick in sales of the Sony-backed (NYSE: SNE) Blu-ray format, which surpassed a 50% market share in Japan for the first time last month.

Burbank, Calif. - Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Warner Home Video said on Tuesday that its first Blu-ray Disc title to feature BD-Live interactivity will be "The Dark Knight," scheduled for release on Dec. 9. BD-Live will allow users to host their own live community screenings with friends; record and post user-generated commentaries over the film; access additional exclusive film-related features; view trailers for upcoming films; and connect to the WB store.

Los Angeles - Police in China conducting a recent raid on a movie pirating facility found what the Motion Picture Association International (MPAI) deemed to be the first pirated Blu-ray movie discs, The Wall Street Journal reported.