| Fri, Jun 05, 2009 |
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Netflix Beware: Best Buy Adds Digital Downloads With CinemaNow Deal
Best Buy wants a piece of the booming digital movie distribution business—and it has brokered a new deal with CinemaNow parent company Sonic Solutions to get it. Movie buffs will soon be able to download films directly from BestBuy.com, and through select devices the company sells in-store. This is the second major distribution deal CinemaNow has scored this year, since it’s supposed to power Blockbuster’s online movie service (which, coincidentally is supposed to launch this quarter).
Neither company offered up details on when the service will go live—nor which devices will have the CinemaNow download capabilities—but if it’s similar to the Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) deal, then consumers will likely be able to get movie downloads on set-top boxes, Blu-Ray players, and even phones. CinemaNow’s licensing deals also make it so that some films will be available for download on the same day they’re released on DVD.
Best Buy spokesman Justin Barber told Video Business that it was just the “first step in continuing to move into the digital movie space.” It follows the launch of Best Buy’s new digital media funding arm (to be managed by Fuse Capital—formerly Velocity). As to whether this new deal should have competitors like Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) and Blockbuster worried—it’s not clear—since the market is still wide open, and it seems that consumers want to get their movie downloads from as many distributors as possible. Release.
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| Thu, May 14, 2009 |
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Earnings: Lack Of Hits Sent Blockbuster Profits Down Nearly 40 Percent
The home video category apparently wasn’t recession-proof enough for Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI), which said Q1 net income plunged 39 percent to $27.7 million ($0.12 per share) from $45.4 million the year before. On an adjusted basis, profits were $41.3 million ($0.19 per share). Revenues fell 19.4 percent to $1.12 billion, compared to total revenues of $1.39 billion in Q108. A FactSet Research analyst poll expected a profit, excluding items, of $0.15 cents per share with $1.29 billion in revenue, according to MarketWatch. The company cited poor store sales and the lack of a major Q1 hit like last year’s I Am Legend, which accounted for the difference in earnings results.
Still, Blockbuster’s poor performance only looks worse when compared to rival Netflix’s comparatively stellar Q1, which was up 68 percent as revenue rose 21 percent. Blockbuster was done in by 10.9 percent lower same-store sales. The company made no mention of its online activities like Total Access, which was meant to meet the challenge by Netflix’s online subscriptions offering. As MKTW pointed out, Blockbuster raised prices on its Total Access service, which only seemed to turn more consumers away, ultimately benefiting Netflix.
Earnings release | Webcast
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paidContent.org
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Earnings: Lack Of Hits Sent Blockbuster Profits Down Nearly 40 Percent
The home video category apparently wasn’t recession-proof enough for Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI), which said Q1 net income plunged 39 percent to $27.7 million ($0.12 per share) from $45.4 million the year before. On an adjusted basis, profits were $41.3 million ($0.19 per share). Revenues fell 19.4 percent to $1.12 billion, compared to total revenues of $1.39 billion in Q108. A FactSet Research analyst poll expected a profit, excluding items, of $0.15 cents per share with $1.29 billion in revenue, Marketwatch reported. The company cited poor store sales and the lack of a major Q1 hit like last year’s I Am Legend, which accounted for the difference in earnings results.
Still, Blockbuster’s poor performance only looks worse when compared to rival Netflix’s comparatively stellar Q1, which was up 68 percent as revenue rose 21 percent. Blockbuster was done in by 10.9 percent lower same-store sales. The company made no mention of its online activities like Total Access, which was meant to meet the challenge by Netflix’s online subscriptions offering. As Marketwatch pointed out, Blockbuster raised prices on its Total Access service, which only seemed to turn more consumers away, ultimately benefiting Netflix.
Earnings release | Webcast
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| Tue, Apr 28, 2009 |
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Sales Of Blu-Ray, Digital Downloads Up Big In First Quarter
Some new kids on the block in home-entertainment continue to grow rapidly. Sales of Blu-Ray HD more than doubled in the first quarter, while digital downloads were up 19 percent, according to a report from the Digital Entertainment Group. Both formats are still a small piece of the overall pie—DVD sales were $2.9 billion in the quarter versus $230 million for Blu-Ray and $487 million for digital downloads. But Blu-Ray’s sales were up 400 percent last year, for a total of $750 million, and companies like Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) and Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) continue to make inroads against traditional DVD sales with digital delivery of home movies.
DVD sales dropped 14 percent for the quarter. Both Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA), which report earnings this week, own studios (Warner Brothers and Paramount) that make a large portion of their revenue from DVD sales.
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paidContent.org
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Sales Of Blu-Ray, Digital Downloads Up Big In First Quarter
Some new kids on the block in home-entertainment continue to grow rapidly. Sales of Blu-Ray HD more than doubled in the first quarter, while digital downloads were up 19 percent, according to a report from the Digital Entertainment Group. Both formats are still a small piece of the overall pie—DVD sales were $2.9 billion in the quarter versus $230 million for Blu-Ray and $487 million for digital downloads. But Blu-Ray’s sales were up 400 percent last year, for a total of $750 million, and companies like Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) and Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) continue to make inroads against traditional DVD sales with digital delivery of home movies.
DVD sales dropped 14 percent for the quarter. Both Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA), which report earnings this week, own studios (Warner Brothers and Paramount) that make a large portion of their revenue from DVD sales.
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