NYT On ‘How TV Makers Are Selling The Idea Of 3D At Home’

The New York Times profiles Samsung Electronics, Panasonic, and other electronics brands in their attempts to convince consumers that 3D home entertainment is here to stay. Marketers have their work cut out for them in meeting forecasts that state between 3.5 million and 4 million 3D TV sets will be sold in the U.S. this year. But brands are upbeat: Samsung, for example, says that some 2,000 early adopters had purchased its first 3D HDTV models within two weeks of their launch. By The New York Times

Zoo Digital Markets Software For Automated Blu-ray Authoring

Zoo Digital, marketer of software automation tools for DVD authoring, is launching a similar system for automating Blu-ray Disc production. According to the company, the Blu-ray software automates the preparation and formatting of interactive menus and other disc content. Content producers also can use the system for automating the “regionalization” of Blu-ray titles to support multiple languages. Zoo also announced two new customers. First, an unnamed Hollywood studio is deploying Zoo’s Web-based Translation Management System to coordinate worldwide marketing campaigns for theatrical film releases. ZOO expects that the studio’s staff will use its translation software in more than 60 territory offices on a daily basis. In addition, the company has signed CBS Home Entertainment as a licensee of its DVD authoring software, as the studio brings DVD production work for select titles in-house. The studio, which manages the worldwide DVD and Blu-ray business for CBS Corp.’s various television shows, plans to use Zoo’s products in the design of certain DVD titles from its Television City facility in Los Angeles. Zoo charges its customers a licensing fee for each title they produce with its software. Zoo Digital

Netflix Tests Streaming Discs For Wii

Netflix announced March 25 that it had shipped instant-streaming discs for use with Nintendo’s Wii console to a group of subscribers for a test of the service that is set to debut this spring. “Their feedback will ensure that we deliver a great experience to everyone when we launch,” writes a company spokesperson on the rental site’s blog. By PC World

GameStop Sued Over Downloadable Content Claims On Used Game Packages

A California resident has filed a class action lawsuit against videogame retailer GameStop, alleging “deceptive and misleading practices” pertaining to the company’s used game sales. According to complaint, used titles at both GameStop and GameStop.com advertise free downloadable content. However, if a disc’s original owner redeemed the content with the package’s one-time-use code, the purchaser of the used disc must pay an additional fee for the download. By Gamasutra

Analyst: Amazon Staffing Up For Digital Videogame Distribution

Amazon could be preparing to enter the digital videogame distribution space, according to a prediction from Lazard Capital’s Colin Sebastian. “Amazon postings indicate upgrades coming to video game site,” the analyst wrote in a recent note. “Our periodic checks of job postings uncovered a search by Amazon in the video game category to help implement a new digital distribution platform. As in other segments of digital media, we expect Amazon to pursue new opportunities as an aggregator of online games, similar to Steam, BigPoint and others.” By MCV

Higher Prices Make Box-Office Debut

Major U.S. movie-theater chains, seeking to capitalize on the surge in revenues fueled by such 3D hits as “Avatar” and “Alice in Wonderland,” are imposing some of the steepest increases in ticket prices in at least a decade. The new prices take effect Friday in many markets across the country in theaters owned by such major exhibitors as Regal Entertainment Group, Cinemark Holdings and AMC Entertainment. By The Wall Street Journal

‘New Moon’ Outpaces ‘Twilight’ In First-Weekend Disc Sales

Consumers purchased some four million DVD copies of Summit Entertainment’s “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” this past weekend, beating the home entertainment launch of the first “Twilight” film in 2009, which sold 3.8 million units in its first two days. The studio-reported figures include discs sold directly to consumers, not rentals, digital downloads or video-on-demand. The five percent increase in DVD sales pales in comparison to the difference in first-weekend box office receipts between the films. “New Moon” grossed $142.8 million domestically between Nov. 20-22, 2009, compared to $69.6 million for the original “Twilight”opening during the same weekend in 2008, according to Box Office Mojo. However, as the LA Times points out, “gaining any ground” in today’s DVD market “is something of a victory” for the independent studio. Via Los Angeles Times

Hastings Sees Sales Of Blu-ray, Used Packaged Media Rise

Comparable store sales at the entertainment specialty retail chain, excluding the effect of leap day in fiscal 2008, decreased 2.1 percent for the 2009, while unit sales of merchandise increased 3.5 percent for the year. Comparable sales of used books, DVDs, videogames and other products increased 10.5% during fiscal 2009, with sales of used merchandise representing approximately 13.8 percent of Hastings’ total merchandise sales for fiscal 2009. During the retailer’s fourth quarter (ended Jan. 31, 2010), comparable store sales of movies increased 2.5 percent, as increased sales of new and used Blu-ray discs outpaced declining sales of new and used DVDs. Via MarketWatch

Research: TV Viewing Via Internet Nearly Triples Since 2006

Viewing of complete TV show episodes via streaming or downloaded video has nearly tripled in the past three years, growing from eight percent to 22 percent of those ages 13 to 54 with Internet access, and from 12 percent to 30 percent of 18-to-34 online users, according to research firm Knowledge Networks. In addition, seven percent in the 13-to-54 age group, and 11 percent of those 18 to 34, have used a TV set to watch streamed or downloaded video. By Knowledge Networks

Apple Scrambling To Secure iPad Content: WSJ

Since the iPad became available for preorder March 12, Apple has sold hundreds of thousands of units, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. But lining up TV programming, digital newspapers and other content ahead of the iPad’s April 3 release has proven difficult for Apple, as some potential collaborators weigh the advantages of working with the company against the potential threats to their current sources of revenue. By The Wall Street Journal

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