Video Business back issues from June 1996:
2,000-store target. (Hollywood Entertainment Corp.'s expansion plans)
Jun 07, 1996; ... TUALATIN, ORE.--HOLLYWOOD Entertainment wants to be the Burger King of the video retail business. Mark Wattles, who serves as Hollywood's chairman, president and CEO, told about 100 shareholders at meeting here last week that there is room in video retailing for a No. 2 chain ...
Black boxes steal VSDA forum. (cable TV piracy devices; Video Software Dealers Association)
Jun 07, 1996; ... WALTHAM, MASS.--Cable signal theft was the talk of last week's Educational Forum and Video Showcase held here by the Video Software Dealers Association's (VSDA) New England Chapter. Local Burger King franchisee Larry Kohler shocked attendees at the morning business session ...
Vidmark unveils 'Killers' campaign. (Vidmark Entertainment Inc.; 'Natural Born Killers')
Jun 07, 1996; ... Vidmark Entertainment is focusing on "the MTV crowd" in its marketing plans for the unrated Natural Born Killers: The Director's Cut, according to senior VP of sell-through Don Gold. And for the first time, the supplier will run a TV ad campaign to promote one of its releases, ...
'Toy Story' goes multimedia with multiple angles.(Marketing)
Jun 07, 1996; ... Disney Interactive will support its new CD-ROM release, Disney's Animated StoryBook, Toy Story (available now, no suggested retail price), with an extensive marketing campaign. Key features include the following: * Consumer ads The campaign will consist of 30-second TV spots in ...
Grocers: start thinking like video retailers.(Executive Memo)
Jun 07, 1996; ... A number of grocers are choosing to eliminate video from their stores in favor of full-service banks, while others are still hesitating about whether to get into home video. I would like to express my dismay, for video departments can be extremely profitable when they are operated ...
Nintendo 64's cartridge format raises price issues.(Interactivity)
Jun 07, 1996; ... Los Angeles--Although the Nintendo 64 was the hit of the recent Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), its impending debut Sept. 30 once again brought up the cartridge-vs.-CD debate that has been brewing since the company announced the machine nearly three years ago. While many ...
Get your money's worth from the VSDA show. (Video Software Retailers Association)(Shop Talk)
Jun 07, 1996; ... Look, you're paying good money to attend the "Hollywood: VSDA on Location" convention in Los Angeles July 10-13. You may as well get something out of it. Talking with people who have attended Video Software Dealers Association shows, we've discovered what they have learned ...
DVD potential trumpeted at briefing. (digital video disc)
Jun 14, 1996; ... SAN JOSE, CALIF. - Crucial DVD copy-protection issues are inching toward resolution, but attendees at a DVD Briefing conference here were assured that, when DVD is launched, there will be a consumer market for it.First-year sales of DVD video players in the U.S. will be 2.8 million ...
Direct possibilities. (Blockbuster Entertainment Corp.)
Jun 14, 1996; ... Blockbuster seeks to cut middlemanBlockbuster Entertainment, continuing its quest to cut inventory costs, is seeking to buy rental product direct from suppliers.At least three suppliers are currently discussing direct relationships with Blockbuster, the country's largest ...
Suppliers catching consolidation fever. (video recordings)
Jun 14, 1996; ... The consolidation that has swept video retailing is, for various reasons, affecting suppliers as well.Jon Peisinger, president of ABC Video, confirmed last week that the special-interest label "at some point' will be absorbed by Buena Vista Home Video.Also, Orion Home ...
Executive memo. (video retailing)(Point of View)(Column)
Jun 14, 1996; ... Before entering video retailing in 1984, Tom Warren was the assistant controller and administrative-services director for the University of Houston. His Video Hut chain, based in Fayetteville, N.C., now has seven stores, ranging from 3,800 to 11,000 square feet. For the past five years, he ...
Publishers not rushing into DVD-ROM. (software publishers; digital video disc-read only memory drives and software)(Interactivity)(Column)
Jun 14, 1996; ... Once the motion-picture, consumer-electronics and computer industries can agree on a solution for digital-video copy protection, DVD-ROM drives and software for personal computers will quickly follow the introduction of DVD set-top players and movies.It's unclear how DVD-ROM ...
Insure key person to assure profitability. (split-dollar life insurance)(Shop Talk)(Column)
Jun 14, 1996; ... Your business is expanding, and you have come to rely heavily on one or two key employees. Would your business remain profitable, you may be wondering, if one of those key people were suddenly to die? It's not a pleasant thought but one business owners should consider.To protect ...
Northern expansion: Gallery to acquire Home-Vision. (Movie Gallery Inc.)
Jun 21, 1996; ... Movie Gallery's long-rumored deal to buy Home-Vision Entertainment has become official, with Wall Street's blessing.In the first three days after the definitive agreement was announced, Movie Gallery's stock price jumped $4.13, to $34.88.The acquisition, which is expected ...
Internet could be video's big foe.
Jun 21, 1996; ... BILOXI, MISS. - The Internet could pose a threat to home video, which so far appears to be holding its own against pay-per-view (PPV) and direct-broadcast satellites (DBS), according to an industry overview given here by VSDA president Jeffrey Eves.Speaking at the second annual ...
Rentrak moves to spin off Blowout. (Rentrak Corp.; Blowout Entertainment)
Jun 21, 1996; ... Revenue-sharing distributor Rentrak Corp., coping with a $32 million net loss for the year ended March 31, is moving forward with plans to divest its retail operations.In a reversal of its previous plans, the company said last week that it will spin off its Blowout Entertainment ...
Chipping away at black boxes. (illegal cable TV converters)(News Analysis)
Jun 21, 1996; ... When Burger King franchisee Larry Kohler told an audience of video retailers that he owned an illegal cable converter, or "black box," no one said a word.That incident, which occurred last month at the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) New England chapter's annual ...
Major rollout approaching for near-VOD. (video on demand)(Interactivity)
Jun 21, 1996; ... After years of hype and not much else, video-on-demand (VOD) is starting to creep slowly into the U.S. marketplace - though the "on-demand" part is still best taken with a large grain of salt.At the recent National Cable Television Association (NCTA) show, "enhanced pay-per-view ...
Tips for a winning Web site. (world Wide Web)(Shop Talk)
Jun 21, 1996; ... Retailers large and small are opening sites on the World Wide and finding them worthwhile. It's not as easy as it seems, though: Too often, the Web's commercial potential remains just that: potential."You face a real risk that no one will visit your Web site," said Bob Heyman, ...
Nintendo paves way for shortage. (Nintendo of America Inc.)
Jun 28, 1996; ... The first round of discussions between Nintendo of America executives and their accounts about allocations of the Nintendo 64 cartridge machine are leaving retailers sorely disappointed.Nintendo executives have been meeting with accounts for the past month to evaluate how much ...
Turner talks turkey: reacts to cassette-quality complaints. (Turner Home Entertainment)
Jun 28, 1996; ... Turner Home Entertainment is going out of its way to hear retailers talk about their problems, and the supplier is getting an earful. The first three meetings last week on the 13-city Turner Talkback Retailer Tour '96 revealed deep concern over public confusion about movie pricing and a ...
E.T. re-release due in October. ('The Extra-Terrestrial')
Jun 28, 1996; ... MCA/Universal Home Video will return E.T. The ExtraTerrestrial, last sold exclusively at Sears, Roebuck & Co., to retail shelves on Oct. 1.MCA put E.T. on moratorium in 1992, when the company began an exclusive two-year promotional deal with Sears. This fall, the supplier will ...
West Coast signs agreements to buy more independent chains. (West Coast Entertainment, Inc.)
Jun 28, 1996; ... In its first month as a publicly traded company, West Coast Entertainment has been absorbing the 171 stores it purchased with the proceeds of its initial public offering (IPO) and has signed agreements in principle to buy 72 more.The proposed acquisitions comprise "about five" ...
Budget supplier announces DVD titles. (Simitar Entertainment Inc.; digital videodiscs)
Jun 28, 1996; ... Budget label Simitar Entertainment is stepping out as the fast supplier to identify its initial DVD releases.Assuming that DVD players are introduced by September, the Minneapolis-based independent supplier plans to release 50 titles for the new format beginning that month whether ...
Time for 'rentailers' to reassess sell-through. (video stores)
Jun 28, 1996; ... The flood of direct-to-sell-through releases is causing a sea change at retail.For some retailers, this simply means an increasing number of inexpensive - and therefore profitable - rental titles."It brings down your blended cost of rental product," said Chuck Wyse, ...
Girls' category still a difficult market to court.
Jun 28, 1996; ... Two years ago, getting girls involved with computers and videogames was one of the biggest goals of the electronic-entertainment industry. The girls' market was viewed as large and untapped, according to several game-company executives. An industry organization called Women Interactive ...
Web watch: a visit to more majors. (major studios hosting World Wide Web sites)
Jun 28, 1996; ... This week, Video Business looks at yet two more major studios currently hosting sites on the World Wide Web.Walt Disney Home Video (http://www.disney.com). If you've ever marveled at the quality and attention to detail that goes into every animated Disney film, you can imagine what ...