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Media
Information > Media DVD Coverage 
Archive
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| Updated January 25, 2007 DVD
NEWS DIGEST 1 -
Superman Returns Warner Home Video
On the eve of the 10th anniversary of DVD's March 1997 launch, a new study shows that more U.S. households now own DVD players than VCRs. As of the third quarter of this year, 81.2% of all households have at least one DVD player, while 79.2% of households have a VCR, according to Nielsen Media Research's Third Quarter Home Technology Report. DVD penetration is up 6% from the previous year and continues to grow, according to Nielsen, while VCR penetration is declining. In 1999, when Nielsen first began tracking DVD ownership, DVD penetration stood at 6.7%, while 88.6% of all U.S. households had VCRs. The Nielsen report also found that DVD households rent DVDs about twice a month, while VCR households rent videocassettes only once a month.
A wave of DVD-download services and options is about to be unleashed. The technology allows a person to download instantly the movie of his or her choice, exponentially increasing the instant gratification that has become the norm and expectation in our society. This technology is already available from several services and a set-top device tentatively named iTV, to be released in the first quarter of 2007, will wirelessly and seamlessly deliver computer downloaded movies to your TV set. Reuters reported that Warner Bros. will enter into an agreement next year to place DVD-download kiosks in Wal-Marts. A customer will select the movie, which will be downloaded to a burnable DVD while he or she waits.
Four people were being questioned by police after a major counterfeit DVD production plant was uncovered. Equipment valued at thousands of pounds was seized after being discovered during a wave of searches in Londonderry. It was the latest part of a major drive against organised crime in the north west in recent weeks which has seen arrests and seizures of DVDs and CDs in a number of operations.
China’s strict limit on the import of foreign films is helping to fuel the global market in pirated DVDs that costs Hollywood and other producers billions of dollars a year, a senior industry figure said yesterday. Mike Ellis, head of the Asia division of the Motion Picture Association, said that it was more profitable to sell pirated DVDs than to push heroin on the streets of London. That increased the difficulty Hollywood faced in trying to close the Chinese factories that churn out new releases within days of their cinema debut. He called on China, the biggest counterfeit DVD market in Asia, to open up its movie market and build a stronger legitimate film industry. The rampant counterfeiting meant that potential sales worth $6.1 billion (£3 billion) were lost to piracy worldwide last year, with $1.2 billion of that in Asia. But the pirates represent very big business and were difficult to curb. Mr Ellis estimated that film piracy cost American studios $244 million in lost potential box office revenues in China last year. Chinese studios fared even worse, with estimated piracy losses of $2.4 billion.
With the help of a DVD called “Hood to Hood,” confiscated during a traffic stop, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department gained some valuable information about one area gang. Footage from the DVD "Hood to Hood" shows members of a local gang. With help of the DVD, which was shown at a city council meeting, police have identified 56 members and made 40 arrests.
An inductee to this year’s Video Business Video Hall of Fame, Universal Studios Home Entertainment president Craig Kornblau, said the industry is “once again facing a time of tremendous potential,” just as it was when he started in the industry in the mid ’80s. “This industry is all about great content at the right place at the right time,” he said, pointing to the next generation of high-definition DVD and downloads.
A DVD aimed at preventing strokes and caring for stroke victims has been released. The Ultimate Video Guide to Stroke Prevention and Recovery has been designed to help people who suffer a stroke, with stroke sufferers and their families preventing segments in the DVD. The DVD set of three offers educational and training materials authored by neurologist Professor Valery Feigin, through Stroke Educational Ltd in Auckland. The DVDs have been endorsed by the World Stroke Federation and the World Federation for NeuroRehabilitation -- the only stroke educational video endorsed by the organisations. The DVDs provide practical recommendations and procedures on what to do to improve recovery and reduce stroke impact on stroke survivors, their families and caregivers, Feinin was reported as saying. The stroke training in the DVDs provides carers with comprehensive instructions on how to care for a stroke person and carry out rehabilitation exercises correctly. end
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