Estimate: Xbox Live Arcade Posts Its First $10M Month

Sales at the Xbox Live Arcade, Microsoft’s digital distribution network for classic videogames and other casual titles, were up 41% year-over-year in March, with the company passing $10 million in game sales within a month for the first time. So estimates FADE LLC, a research firm focusing on digital and mobile entertainment distribution platforms. The firm attributes the growth to Microsoft’s “Block Party” promotion for Xbox Live, which touted the release of four major titles. The top seller for the month, Signal Games’ “Toy Soldiers,” moved an estimated 209,000 digital units at $15 a piece. FADE LLC

Supply Chain Shifts Prompt Warner Bros. Reorg

Warner Bros.’ Technical Operations unit is assigning new roles to several senior executives in efforts to “reorganize the management of distribution operations globally” and “leverage the logical links and increasing dependencies” between the studio’s physical and digital businesses. The management changes also bring together support for production, post-production, theatrical distribution, and mastering operations into a single organizational structure. Brian McKay, promoted to EVP of Production Operations, is now responsible for the management of a newly consolidated organization that includes Media and Corporate Image Archives, Worldwide Mastering and Global Digital Media Xchange (GDMX). McKay also oversees the digital conversion of theatrical and mastering operations and manages their interdependent digital strategies. He reports to Darcy Antonellis, Warner Bros. Technical Operations President. Meanwhile, Justin Herz advances to become SVP of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution’s direct-to-consumer business, and GM of Warner Bros. Advanced Digital Services. Herz oversees the digital distribution division’s eCommerce, customer relationship management, and loyalty initiatives. Herz is additionally responsible for the services division’s overall operations management, including cross-divisional client management and strategic planning, service offerings, internal product development, vendor services and integration, infrastructure, technology selection, project management, and research and development for future products and services. Herz dually reports to Vicky Colf, who has been named SVP Digital Solutions and Servicing at Warner Bros. Technical Operations, and Thomas Gewecke, President of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. Via Business Wire

CDSA, Futuresource Announce Monthly Content Protection Reports

The Content Delivery & Storage Association (CDSA) and Futuresource Consulting have announced the launch of a monthly series of Content Protection reports to provide CDSA members and certified facilities with exclusive, actionable data and market research on worldwide content protection and anti-piracy developments and trends. The first report, “Copy Protection, Copy Content Control & DRM: An Overview,” will be released in May. “As the International Content Protection Association, CDSA is proud to be partnering with Futuresource Consulting to produce this valuable series of monthly White Papers for our membership and partners,” says CDSA Executive Director Martin Porter. “Together we will be helping to expand the global knowledge base about how service providers are advancing their content protection capabilities.”

CDSA and Futuresource Launch Content Protection White Paper Series

NEW YORK — The Content Delivery & Storage Association (CDSA) and Futuresource Consulting have announced the launch of a monthly series of Content Protection reports to provide CDSA members and certified facilities with exclusive, actionable data and market research on worldwide content protection and anti-piracy developments and trends,

The first report:  “Copy Protection, Copy Content Control & DRM: An Overview” will be released in May.

“As the International Content Protection Association, CDSA is proud to be partnering with Futuresource Consulting to produce this valuable series of monthly White Papers for our membership and partners,” says CDSA Executive Director Martin Porter.  “Together we will be helping to expand the global knowledge base about how service providers are advancing their content protection capabilities.”

CDSA’s Content Protection and Security Standard and auditing programs were developed by a worldwide consortium of anti-piracy and security experts to address the evolving needs of today’s physical and digital content delivery supply chains — from content creation to post-production and replication through distribution. The program is the result of over 10 years of in-the-field development at more than 100 sites worldwide and is supported by major content holders, including NBC Universal Pictures and Electronic Arts. CDSA’s Content Protection and Security Standards program helps organizations to establish, implement, monitor, maintain and improve entertainment media and content security management processes to better protect intellectual property and related assets.

To receive a complimentary copy of the first CDSA/Futuresource Content Protection Report contact:  Margaret Sekelsky at margaret@MESAlliance.org

‘Avatar’ Sales Raise The Bar For Blu-ray

Weekend shoppers helped to push Blu-ray sales of “Avatar” past the 2.7-million-unit mark, according to Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. In its first four days of release, the title has managed to break the Blu-ray sales record of 2.5 million units, which had been held by Warner Home Video’s “The Dark Knight.” Retail sales of “Avatar” Blu-ray and DVD have exceeded 6.7 million copies since its launch April 22, putting the title on pace to be the best selling “in recent history,” Fox states in a release. The key issue for the Blu-ray business is whether future titles will be able to top “Avatar” in turn. As the Wrap points out, the “Avatar” numbers do not come close to besting all-time industry record-setters – such as Disney’s “Finding Nemo,” which sold a combined 8 million DVD and VHS copies on its first day of release in 2003. By The Wrap

Czech Production Firm Gains LA Presence With Encoding Facility Stake

Prague-based Brickbox Digital Media says it has purchased a “significant stake” in International Digital Management (IDM), a provider of encoding and other digital production services to entertainment companies. IDM, whose main production facility is located in Sofia, Bulgaria, opened a Los Angeles office in 2009. Brickbox also maintains offices in the UK, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary. Brickbox Digital Media

Redbox Settles With Fox, Universal

As anticipated, the kiosk company reaches 28-day window agreements with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The supply deals end Redbox’s legal dispute with the studios – and keep new-release DVDs such as Fox’s “Avatar” and Universal’s “It’s Complicated” out of Redbox machines until late May. Both deals also cover Blu-ray discs, which Redbox is currently testing. Redbox

‘Avatar’ Sells 1.5M Blu-ray Copies On First Day

Blu-ray sales of "Avatar" topped 1.5 million copies yesterday, while standard DVD sales of the film are estimated to have surpassed 2.5 million units, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Studio Twentieth Century Fox tells the trade mag that retailers had sold out of 60% of their Blu-ray inventory on the disc’s April 22 street date, while mass merchants moved 50% of their “Avatar” DVDs. By The Hollywood Reporter

Netflix: Streaming Drives Q1 Growth

“It is clear that our performance, and the overall appeal of the Netflix service, is being driven by subscribers watching instantly,” said Netflix’s Reed Hastings in delivering the company’s first-quarter earnings April 21. Netflix says that 55 percent of its subscribers have streamed a movie or TV show via the DVD renter’s “Watch Instantly” service. In response to an analyst question during the company’s earnings call (transcript via Seeking Alpha), Hastings said Netflix was “seeing some substitution of DVD rental for streaming” among subscribers. Netflix ended the quarter of 2010 with nearly 14 million subscribers, a 35 percent year-over-year increase, and a 14 percent increase from the fourth quarter. On whether Netflix has seen any indication of subscriber response to its new 28-day windows for some new releases, Hastings said, “Our indication is our record low churn [of 3.8 percent].” As to quantifying subscriber behavior regarding delayed availability of “The Blind Side” – the first major title subject to Netflix’s window agreement with Warner Bros. – Hastings mused that some subscribers purchased the DVD at retail or watched the film via pay-per-view services during the 28-day period. But he acknowledged a “pent-up demand” from subscribers to rent the film. Hastings said there "is a little bit of guesswork" in determining how many DVDs will satisfy demand for windowed films. "We are still learning together with Warner Brothers how to predict that.” Via Seeking Alpha

Best Buys Touts ‘Avatar’

Of the hundreds of stores open at midnight tonight for the DVD and Blu-ray Disc/DVD combo releases of Avatar, Best Buy’s may be the most invested.

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