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Posted
Sep 22 2009, 04:02 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
DVD sales are flagging and rentals are up -- news likely to be unwelcome at the major movie studios. The Digital Entertainment Group announced that in the first half of this year, DVD sales fell almost 14% to $5.4 billion. DVD rental revenue rose 8% to $3.4 billion.
While kiosk operator RedBox and DVD mailer NetFlix (NFLX) are a large part of the rise in rentals, it is Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) that really crush studio DVD sales.
Revenue for online stores was up 21% for the period to $968 million. At that rate of growth and the drop in DVD sales, Apple and Amazon have become essential to studio revenue and a real danger to premium DVD profits.
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Posted
Aug 21 2009, 10:14 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This article was written by Minyanville's Mike Schuster For the last decade or so, the print industry has been struggling to remain relevant in the face of interactive and online media. Blogs and instant updates have eliminated the need to pick up an outdated version of headlines in bulky newsprint, forcing countless customers to second-guess paying for a paper or magazine. As it continues to lag behind the digital competition, the print industry needs to pull out all the stops -- which is what one publication intends to do. Eager to give its print division a much-needed boost, Time Warner (TWX) is hoping to lure more people to the magazine rack with a vibrant ad campaign for CBS (CBS) programming and Pepsi Max (PEP) in select issues of Entertainment Weekly next month. Bing: Digital Advertising
Much like an audio greeting card, the two-page insert features a two-inch screen that plays short video clips in relatively sharp resolution when the page is opened. Created by the Los Angeles-based Americhip, the video player is controlled by a column of buttons below the screen that select which clip to play -- be it a clip from Big Bang Theory or a commercial for Pepsi Max. The speaker isn't volume controlled but plays fairly loudly -- probably to lure the attention of the commuter sitting beside you on the subway. The video screen is able to hold up to 40 minutes of video and has a rechargeable battery -- though readers will unlikely want to fire up a talking ad after it's run out of juice.
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Posted
Jul 06 2009, 03:59 PM
by
Tobin Smith
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Back in the '70s and '80s, baby boomers were at the forefront of a new wave of consumer demand. They were also the early adopters of new media technologies. Their TV viewing habits, purchasing habits, likes and dislikes were tracked intensely by the corporate world to help them determine which products, services and technologies were wanted most.
But fast forward a few decades to the 21st century -- are baby boomers still at the forefront of today's media technology?
Given the radical changes in media, particularly over the last decade, including the ubiquitous use of the Internet, social networking services and now even video content delivery over the Web, you wouldn't think baby boomers would be leading the charge forward.
Well, think again. A recent ChangeWave Alliance survey points to a powerful shift occurring among baby boomers from traditional TV to new types of online entertainment.
But what, if anything, are media companies doing to keep up with changing demand? As it turns out, they're doing plenty. And it could mean a boom for the biggest media firms out there.
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Posted
Jul 06 2009, 01:21 PM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
It's not likely that Michael Jackson's estate will be settled any time soon. Given conflicts among his family, his lawyers, and children of unclear parentage, Jackson's property should finally be divvied up around the time "Off the Wall" enters the public domain.
But as those closest to Jackson attempt to sift through red tape almost as lasting as his fame, the pop star's death has sent ripples through Hollywood's ailing economy and has given it a much needed boost -- no matter how morbid or undignified.
Rather than a time of mourning and reverence, event planners are pushing for happiness and celebration: They're organizing events at which consumers might not mind dishing out $9 for a bottle of water emblazoned with a glittery glove, and where $50 to have your picture taken next to a cardboard cutout of MJ will seem like a good deal. You know -- the sort of magical moments when a huge crowd remembers a person's life by wanting to buy a part of it.
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Posted
Apr 20 2009, 09:15 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Finish downloading that song and check your e-mail one last time: The Internet can't handle all this traffic, and it's going to die!
Cable and internet providers have been selling us that line for a few years now -- ever since high-speed connections sprang up throughout the country. But these doomsday warnings hit a fever pitch when free online video sites like YouTube (GOOG) and Hulu began competing with network TV programming. As viewership drops, traditional media companies have to supplement lost revenue via other means.
Their inevitable solution: Make heavy Internet users pay through the nose for the privilege.
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Posted
Apr 17 2009, 11:03 AM
by
Minyanville
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Even progressive Scandinavians have to bow to the almighty media conglomerates: The developers behind The Pirate Bay, the popular BitTorrent tracking site, were sentenced to 1 year in prison for "assisting in making copyright content available." Their punishment also includes $3.6 million in damages, to be paid to Sony (SNE), Warner Bros (TWX), Fox (NWS) and others. Though appeals are certainly forthcoming, the ruling may nevertheless slow, if not stop altogether, users' access to media online.
The verdict came after a 3-week trial in which prosecutors embarrassed themselves by their woeful ignorance of BitTorrent's technical aspects and peer-to-peer file sharing in general. John Kennedy -- CEO of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) -- even admitted, on the stand, that he had no idea how either BitTorrent or the back end of Pirate Bay operates. Prosecutors were then forced to drop half of the charges.
But the remaining half stuck, at least for now.
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Posted
Apr 01 2009, 03:59 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The business of having online sites with content created by amateurs to be viewed by other amateurs never had a reasonable chance of making money. The fact that Facebook once had a $15 billion valuation, and that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. (NWS) bought MySpace, and that Google (GOOG) bought YouTube only proves the “greater fool” theory.
YouTube was started in 2005 and MySpace in 2003. Normally, having a social network where people go to share profiles of themselves, write blogs and submit videos would not seem like much of a business. But MySpace has well over 100 million users. People viewed over 5 billion videos at YouTube last month.
Investors assumed that any medium with such a large number of users had to become a huge business. Millions and millions of users must be worth something. They can’t be worth nothing. That couldn’t be possible.
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Posted
Feb 26 2009, 12:39 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 DreamWorks Animation (DWA) is moving to the Nasdaq from the NYSE this week, and the Los Angeles Times takes the opportunity to analyze the stock.
Shares dropped to a new 52-week low Wednesday and closed at $17.62 after the company reported disappointing Q4 earnings. "Kung Fu Panda" didn't do as well on DVD as the company had hoped, bringing in only about $102 million in sales over three months. That's much less than what "Shrek the Third" brought, the Times says. But there's hope that "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" will deliver for the company on DVD, as will "Monsters vs. Aliens" at the box office. And CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg says that Dreamworks' stock is "undervalued" (what CEO doesn't think that?). Is he right?
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Posted
Feb 20 2009, 02:14 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
DVD sales are slowing down, and that's got Hollywood pretty nervous. People have filled out their home video libraries, reports The Wrap. That's one of the reasons that DVD rentals and sales dropped to $21.6 billion last year from a peak of $24.1 billion in 2006. The entertainment industry was hoping that high-definition discs would pick up the slack, but folks aren't rushing to buy a $25 Blu-ray movie in this economy. And who can blame those who sunk money into the now-failed HD-DVD format for laying low for a while? DVD sales woes are hurting the bottom line at companies like Viacom (VIA), which saw home entertainment
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Posted
Feb 05 2009, 03:15 AM
by
Bernhard Warner and Matthew Yeomans
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site The Big Money.
Fat cats, you've been warned. From here on in, pay packages for the executives of those stricken firms on taxpayer support must show "common sense," President Barack Obama chided yesterday from the White House. The Obama administration is calling for a $500,000 cap on executive pay, and for restrictions on "golden parachute" payouts and when stock incentives can be cashed in (now, who would be foolish enough to do such a thing these days?) until the government assistance is repaid. The limits run deep. As the New York Times reports, even "luxury perquisites like private jets and country club memberships" are to be scrutinized. The Wall Street Journal calls it "the most aggressive assault on executive pay by federal officials," one that shows Washington is determined to take greater control of the companies it bails out.
The moves are not retroactive, the WSJ points out, sparing, for now, the John Thains of the world.
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