Day-and-Date for Disc Based Media and VOD Strategy is Working

Sure, maybe it is a bad example because it’s “Twilight”. It’s something you wouldn’t understand unless you’re a teenage girl. However, Summit Entertainment is reporting that their fears of digital copies taking precedence over the obsolete disc formats are still not yet a reality. Observe:

When Summit Entertainment released the vampire hit simultaneously on DVD and video-on-demand, it broke the oldest taboo in home entertainment: No other studio had released a pic grossing more than $100 million at the domestic B.O. that way, fearing VOD transactions would cannibalize disc sales.

As the entertainment biz inevitably moves toward a day when discs will give way to product delivered directly to TVs and computers, the business is poised somewhat uneasily on a tightrope. Summit and some majors like the day and date VOD and DVD release strategy; others are worried it will cut into DVD sales.

But that didn’t happen with “Twilight”: The March release became — and still is — the year’s top home entertainment title. Almost 8.5 million copies have been sold on disc or via download on sites such as iTunes, while rentals have exceeded 14 million transactions on all formats, with VOD accounting for a healthy portion of that.

Summit Home Entertainment prexy Steve Nickerson is convinced the release strategy paid off in greater overall coin.

The article goes on to explain more on the decline of DVD sales and where the market is at. It’s a good read, so check out the full article on Variety – The upside of a DVD and VOD day-and-date release.

Vudu Expands on LG TVs

In an interesting move by LG, they’re taking the VUDU Set Top Box out of the equation and building the hardware right into their TVs: the LG 42LH50 42-Inch and the LG 50PS80 50-Inch Plasma. Here’s the spin:

“Our alliance with Vudu further demonstrates LG’s commitment to delivering the ultimate HD viewing experience, by providing instant access to more 1080p movie content than ever before,” said Peter Reiner, senior VP of marketing and strategy at LG Electronics USA. “Vudu highlights the superb video quality of our ‘Full HD’ sets with NetCast Entertainment Access, while providing consumers with access to thousands of HD movies with the touch of a button.”

Alain Rossmann, Vudu CEO, added, “Together, LG’s broadband HDTVs and the Vudu service will set the industry standard for easy access to on-demand HD movies. Vudu is blazingly fast on LG’s broadband HDTVs and makes discovering and watching new HD movies a truly exciting and fun user experience.”

More choices with hard-wired VOD delivery is always a good thing. Thanks VidBiz.

Blockbuster to Offer Netbooks and Blu-ray Players In Store

In another curious move by the fledgling Blockbuster, they plan on offering ARCHOS 10 netbooks in store for $299. The dirt:

Blockbuster will add $299 Archos 10 netbook computers to its product offerings at 1,000 of its U.S. locations.The Archos netbooks will include an embedded link to Blockbuster’s Web site.

At less than 2.8 pounds each, the mini laptops feature a 10-inch ultra-bright LED screen, 1GB RAM and a 160GB harddrive. They also come equipped with Windows XP and a built-in Web cam.

I think they’re going to need more than a link to their site. Thanks VidBiz.

Also, the company plans on offering Samsung Blu-ray players which will feature the ability to steam the Blockbuster On-demand titles. Check it:

Blockbuster has reached an agreement to have its on-demand titles playable through Samsung high-definition televisions and Blu-ray Disc players.Owners of Samsung HDTVs, Blu-ray players and home-theater systems will be able to video-stream Blockbuster OnDemand titles as soon as this fall, Blockbuster said in a statement today. As part of the agreement, Blockbuster will sell Samsung Blu-ray players at “thousands” of its stores, the company said.

The efforts of the largest U.S. movie rental company to boost sales of digital content mirror competitor Netflix, which reached a similar agreement with Sony for its Bravia televisions late last week.

Thanks again to VidBiz.

Managed Copy End-User Blu-Ray Copy Permissions Coming Next Year

Blu-ray player manufacturers are planning to allow users to make one “backup” copy of their Blu-ray discs. Most of the current generation of Blu-ray players out there will not be able to support the feature though. Check it out:

The requirement that studios include managed copy on Blu-ray discs means that virtually all Blu-ray discs released after the first quarter of 2010 will offer consumers the ability to make one full-resolution backup copy, AACS-LA chair Michael Ayers said. Before the final license takes effect, studios, manufacturers and others who license Blu-ray must approve it.

Once it does take effect, it’s unlikely that most Blu-ray owners will be immediately able to make a copy—the current generation of Blu-ray players and other BD devices don’t have the ability to make managed copies, and hardware suppliers aren’t expected to get new players out until the first or second quarter of 2010 at the very earliest.

In addition, content owners will be in tight control of the backups made. Studios can choose to charge for the copy and can offer, or sell, additional copies.

Initially, managed copies can be made to recordable Blu-ray or DVD discs, as a download to a Windows Media DRM-compatible portable player or hard drive, on a memory stick, SD card or as a bound copy, such as a digital copy file on the disc, Ayers said.

Downloads to iPods, iPhones and other Apple devices are not approved, and the AACS-LA has not received a submission from Apple to make Blu-ray copies to Apple devices, though Ayers said Apple could apply at any time. The final AACS license allows for additional copying formats to be added.

The amount of limitations for the content really stresses the fact that the real solution is still yet to come: steaming to everything. Still, a step in the right direction – away from disc-based media. Thanks to VidBiz.

LG Adds CinemaNow to Two Blu-Ray Decks

LG is set to roll out two more Blu-ray players which will include CinemaNow along with them. The players are the LG BD 370 and the LG BD 390. Dirty stuff:

The players, announced previously at International CES, incorporate Ethernet ports and, in the case of the BD390, Wi-Fi capabilities to link with in-home networks to access the Internet.

The BD390 is being billed as the first-ever Blu-ray player to offer interactive download-to-own and Pay-Per-View options, allowing consumers to purchase content from Roxio CinemaNow through the player.

The BD390 also has 1GB of built-in memory for BD Live functionality.

Both the BD370 ($300 suggested retail) and BD390 ($400) began offering the Roxio CinemaNow service through a free, automatic firmware update on May 14.

The players also continue to offer access to YouTube, and Netflix streaming video content.

Both players include UBS inputs and will output a range of resolution formats including FullHD 1080p, with 1080p up-scaling for standard DVDs.

Kind of interesting how they keep adding features to all of the Blu-ray players to help prevent the disc format from going away completely. Thanks to Twice.

LaCie Joins Set Top Arena with Black Series

LaCie, best known for their portable hard drives, has now joined the set top box race with the LaCinema Black Play and Record devices. Check it:

The LaCinema Black Play and Record were crafted by noted designer Neil Poulton and enable using a direct network connection, or built-in Wi-Fi connection, to store music, movies and photos on internal hard drives from any computer on the local network.

A built-in universal plug-and-lay client player rapidly accesses media content from a networked PC or Mac located anywhere in the home.

The LaCinema Black models are available through the LaCie online store or LaCie resellers with storage capacities of 500GBs and 1TB, respectively. Suggested retails start at $430.

The LaCinema Black Play and Record will access downloaded HD movies and television programs directly on the television and will decode 1080p resolution movies, and HD JPEG photos. Standard-definition source material can be up-scaled to 1080i resolution.

Both units will also output surround sound through an optical audio connection.

More and more choices are out there. I’m not so sure LaCie has the staying power though. If you’re not a hard core media file junkie or a professional video editor, chances of you hearing about LaCie are kind of slim. Thanks to Twice.

Disney Falls Under Some Vudu, Buena Vista VOD Day and Date

Disney, along with other Buena Vista brands, has added a heaping portion of films to the VUDU Set Top Box for Movies On Demand lineup. The other important thing to note is these films will be day-and-date with the Blu-ray releases. Check it out:

Vudu has become the first digital video download service to offer permanent high-definition film downloads from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

Starting immediately, Vudu users will be able to access more than 60 Disney films, including Doubt,High School Musical 3: Senior Year, No Country for Old Men, The Sixth Sense and National Treasure. Vudu said it will soon offer new movies as permanent downloads simultaneously with DVD release.

People can choose to watch either in instant high-def mode or as Vudu’s proprietary HDX, which the company touts as the highest quality download format available anywhere.

Many studios offer high-def titles for digital rental delivery through such services as Xbox Live and Netflix. Vudu in February was the first Web-based digital service to offer permanent high-def film downloads. Some services have since expanded to download-to-own high-def. Apple’s iTunes now offers a limited selection of permanent high-def titles, including MGM Home Entertainment’s Quantum of Solace(distributed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) and Lionsgate’s 3:10 to Yuma.

The plot thickens. Surely other set top guys are going to notice. Cheers to VidBiz and Engadget.

Possibly More, Cheap Set Tops Coming

A FCC filing reveals some plans for a few more set top contenders, the catch being they may sell for under $50. Check it:

The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday granted a three-year waiver to Evolution Broadband for two low-cost set-top boxes that do not include CableCards — a blanket exemption to the so-called “integration ban” that could pave the way for cable operators to deploy much less expensive set-tops.

The sub-$50 devices from Evolution Broadband covered under the waiver are one-way “limited-capability devices” that provide integrated security, referred to in the industry as digital terminal adapters. The boxes convert digital signals to analog format and don’t provide advanced functions like digital video recording.

[...]

“The FCC’s action will allow small cable operators to take their systems all-digital at a much faster pace because now they can deploy set-top boxes that will cost about $50 instead of several hundred dollars each,” Polka said in a statement. “Under this ruling, cable’s transition to digital — which the federal government is not subsidizing as it did for TV stations — will be far less costly for cable customers in this economically stressful time.”

Full story can be found at Multichannel.

Warner to Charge DVD Consumers for Friday the 13th Digital Copy

Warner is spreading the divide between DVD and Blu-ray with this move: they’ll be charging $1.99 for a digital copy of Friday the 13th should you decide you don’t want to purchase the Blu-ray copy. Warner argues that the demand for the digital copy simply isn’t there if you’re shopping for DVDs still. The word:

Both single-disc standard DVD versions, Friday the 13th Theatrical Cut and Friday the 13th Killer Cut, are priced at $28.99. The titles feature links to an online digital copy, presumably accessible through individual registration codes received after the $1.99 payment.

The Friday the 13th Blu-ray version, priced at $35.99, embeds the copy on disc for no extra fees.

Studios, including Warner, have been increasingly adding free digital copies to titles to boost their attractiveness. Warner is one of the few companies to now charge for the extra.

Some consumers will likely dislike this pay-for-copy strategy. But Warner earlier confirmed that the most robust users of digital copy are Blu-ray buyers, not DVD purchasers.

With the no-charge digital copy, Warner also further distinguishes the Blu-ray Friday the 13th over its two DVD versions.

What Warner doesn’t realize is that in a few years we may see all disc based formats fading out as VOD steps in. One can only hope, at least. Tip of the hat to VidBiz once again.

New Smartphone Apps Allow Blu-ray Special Feature Transfers to Phones

Coming next week are new apps for smartphones like the Blackberry and iPhone which will allow consumers to transfer special features and interactive segments from Blu-ray discs to their phones. The app will also allow you to control your Blu-ray player with the phone itself. Blu-ray players need to update their firmware to support the feature. Check it out:

The app, which will be available for free at the iTunes store beginning this weekend, works on Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch, the Palm Pre, Google Android and BlackBerry. With it, consumers can transfer downloadable content and interactive features from their Blu-ray Disc to their phone. The phones also can be used as a remote control for a compatible Blu-ray player.

Blu-ray developers and consumer electronics companies have to add the BD Touch capability to discs and players to allow consumers to transfer content. “It’s just one line of code they have to put in,” Pantoja said. “We made it extremely, extremely simple.”

Backers say they intend BD Touch to be an affordable and simple add-on for developers. BD player manufacturers can add the capability through a firmware upgrade so the function can be added to players already in consumer homes. BD Touch backers say the mobile interactivity will help further set the format apart from DVD and make it more appealing to a younger audience that uses mobile phones more and more.

An interesting spin on interactivity for sure, and driving the usability of smartphones to do way more than call. Perhaps Blu-ray films will also see higher quality interactive elements to take advantage of the new app. Full story on Video Business.