archives

o Comcast Buys AT&T Broadband for $72 Billion
o Report: Video-on-Demand Market Worth $640 Million by 2006
o VHS Still Securely Leading DVD At Video Rental Stores
o Online Ad Market Will Grow to $18.8 Billion by 2005
o England Leading in Digital TV Penetration
o Briefly Noted: EMusic - indie labels, Playboy.com - Wireless
Entertainment Service Finland, Universal Interactive - J.R.R. Tolkien, NTN
Communications - Airborne Entertainment, SeaChange - Cox - Park Place
Entertainment, Mitchell Kertzman, Animation - Sundance Online
_____________________________________________

o Comcast Buys AT&T Broadband for $72 Billion

New York -- Cable TV operator Comcast Corp. announced late Wednesday that
it has agreed to purchase AT&T Broadband from AT&T in a deal valued at $72
billion. The merger creates a new company called AT&T Comcast Corporation,
which will serve 22 million subscribers nationwide, including 5 million
digital video customers and 2.2 million high-speed Internet service
customers. Under the terms of the agreement, Comcast will pay about $47
billion in stock and take on about $20 billion of AT&T's debt; Microsoft
agreed to convert $5 billion owed to it by AT&T Broadband into shares of
AT&T Comcast. AT&T Chairman C. Michael Armstrong will become chairman of
the new company, while Comcast president Brian Roberts will become CEO of
AT&T Comcast Corp.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011219/192574_1.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-8236344.html?tag=tp_pr
http://www.comcast.com
_____________________________________________

o Report: Video-on-Demand Market Worth $640 Million by 2006

New York -- The market for video-on-demand (VOD) services will be worth an
estimated $640 million by 2006, predicted Internet analyst and measurement
firm Jupiter Media Metrix. Jupiter said that video-on-demand offered
through local cable TV companies or digital satellite TV will have more of
an effect on the pay-per-view market than it will on video rentals or box
office receipts. "The industry heralded VOD as the entertainment
technology that would unseat the VCR from the home and obliterate the
video rental market -- that's unrealistic," said Jupiter analyst Lydia
Loizides. "The greatest value lies in shifting the pay-per-view audience
to VOD and generating incremental revenues." According to a recent
consumer survey Jupiter conducted, only 11 percent of respondents said
they were interested in viewing movies online, with 31 percent saying that
the Internet was too slow for video. Citing these statistics, Jupiter said
that PC-based VOD services "are destined to fizzle out before they begin."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/011220/nyth023_1.html
http://www.jmm.com
_____________________________________________

o VHS Still Securely Leading DVD At Video Rental Stores

Encino, Calif. -- Rental spending figures for the month of November show
that despite the rapid adoption of the DVD format by consumers, VHS tapes
are still vastly more popular at video rental outlets, according to the
Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA), an international home video and
entertainment industry trade group. VSDA figures indicate that the Top 200
VHS titles generated rental revenue of $478 million during November,
while the Top 200 DVDs made $154 million. "The DVD format, without a
doubt, is proving to be a popular medium among home video consumers as
evidenced by such record sell-thru titles as 'Snow White,' 'Shrek,' and
'Pearl Harbor,'" said VSDA president Bo Andersen. "The push to embrace
this digital medium is also being stimulated from the top down by national
chain retailers offering holiday incentive pricing on DVD players with
some being offered under $100. We are very excited about the infectious
growth of the DVD market in our industry, but it is clearly evident the
VHS format will also remain a popular source for home entertainment in
years to come."
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/213540053&ticker=
http://www.vsda.org
_____________________________________________

o Online Ad Market Will Grow to $18.8 Billion by 2005

Stamford, Conn. -- By 2005, online advertising will be an $18.8 billion
market in the United States, up from 131 percent from 2001's $7.9 billion,
according to a research report released on Thursday by GartnerG2. While
online advertising still represents only about 3 percent of the total
industry, the online ad market is predicted to grow over the next several
years while the TV, print and radio ad markets will remain flat. "Due to
decreased growth and market domination by the top players, online media
firms must diversify their products and services to supplement the income
they expected to receive from online advertising,'' said GartnerG2
research director Denise Garcia. "Diversification is the future for this
industry, so those who do not branch out will see their online advertising
revenues decrease and their user bases deteriorate." Gartner found that
out of the 2,800 sites selling advertising in the U.S., the top 20 sites
receive 80 percent of the overall revenue.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011219/192104_1.html
http://www.gartnerg2.com
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o England Leading in Digital TV Penetration

London -- According to market research from Jupiter Media Metrix, Great
Britain will have the highest penetration of digital TV subscribers by the
end of 2002, with half of British homes subscribing to digital TV
services, Reuters reported. In comparison, Spain and Italy are only
expected to see 20 percent of their respective households signed up for
digital TV at the end of next year. Broadband penetration in Europe is not
expected to reach "critical mass," the 15 percent of homes Jupiter
predicts will be necessary to sustain high-speed services offerings, until
2006.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-8220589.html?tag=ch_mh
http://www.jmm.com
_____________________________________________

o Briefly Noted:

(Redwood City, Calif.) EMusic, a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal that
offers downloadable music through a subscription service, said on Thursday
that six additional independent record labels have licensed tracks for its
service. OM Records, Olympia, JSP, Minty Fresh, Checkered Past and Emperor
Norton will make select tracks from their artists available to EMusic
subscribers. Redwood City-based EMusic's service lets users burn CDs of
all the MP3 tracks they download as well as transfer them to any portable
digital audio device.
http://www.emusic.com
http://www.omrecords.com
http://www.emperornorton.com

(Helsinki, Finland) Playboy.com has partnered with Wireless Entertainment
Service Finland (WES) to offer wireless network operators adult content
that will be transmitted to users' cell phones and other wireless devices.
The service is slated to launch in the first quarter of 2002. "We have
previously acquired licenses in the field of music, sports and arts. The
Playboy entertainment collections complement our choice of branded content
perfectly", said WES CEO Mika Eriksson.
http://www.wirelessfun.com/pr/playboy_en.html

(Universal City, Calif.) Game developer Universal Interactive said on
Thursday that it plans to develop a massively multiplayer online
roleplaying game -- similar to EverQuest or Ultima Online -- based on the
literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien. In addition, the company said its games
based on "The Lord of the Rings" for the Xbox -- currently being developed
by Seattle-based studio WXP -- and Game Boy Advance will be released in
the fourth quarter of 2002.
http://search.prnmedia.com/servlet/pressroomsrv?pressid=250300&detail=story
http://www.universalinteractive.com

(Carlsbad, Calif.) Wireless entertainment developer NTN Communications
said on Thursday that its Buzztime Entertainment subsidiary has licensed
its game content to mobile entertainment provider Airborne Entertainment.
Under the terms, Montreal-based Airborne will manage the technology, sales
and marketing of the Buzztime trivia games on wireless platforms and
Carlsbad-based Buzztime Entertainment will receive a guaranteed minimum
license fee against a share of the revenue derived from subscription and
usage fees.
http://search.prnmedia.com/servlet/pressroomsrv?pressid=250259&detail=story
http://www.buzztime.com
http://www.airborneentertainment.com

(Maynard, Mass.) SeaChange, a provider of video-on-demand services, said
on Thursday that it expects to generate $9 million in revenue next year
through its recently announced partnership to provide video-on-demand
services to 23,000 hotel rooms in conjunction with Cox Business Services
Hospitality Network. The companies are providing their services to rooms
at Park Place Entertainment properties, which include Caesar's Palace,
Bally's and other casino resorts. Massachusetts-based SeaChange also
provides VOD systems to Adelphia, Cablevision, Comcast and Time Warner
Cable.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011220/202360_1.html
http://www.seachangeinternational.com

(San Francisco) CNET on Thursday posted an interview with interactive TV
developer Liberate Technologies' CEO Mitchell Kertzman. San Carlos-based
Liberate develops operating system software for the set-top boxes used by
cable companies to deliver interactive TV to their subscribers.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-201-8237299-0.html?tag=tp_pr
http://www.liberate.com

(San Francisco) Wired News featured an article on Thursday that tracks the
development of computer-aided animation to its prominence today at the
2002 Sundance Online Film Festival, which opens today featuring 26 films
-- 12 of which are animated. "Twenty years ago, I was interested in
animation, but didn't think I'd have a chance," said professional
illustrator Chris Ferrantello. "You needed real equipment. But once I got
a computer and got my hands on [Macromedia's Flash], I was able to recycle
my illustrations and make them move."
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,49258,00.html
http://www.sundanceonlinefilmfestival.com
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