Audio Video News

After 20 years, one of the entertainment industry's most enduring management teams is calling it quits. On July 15, Robert A. Daly and Terry Semel, co-chairmen and co-CEOs of Warner Bros. film studio and Warner Bros. Music, informed <A HREF="http://www.pathfinder.com/corp/">Time Warner</A> chief Gerald Levin that they would not renew their employment contracts. The two said they wish to explore other opportunities as "entertainment entrepreneurs."

As <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?465">reported last week</A>, more than 1.1 million DVD-Video players were shipped through the first half of 1999. Additional information released by the <A HREF="http://www.dvdvideogroup.com">DVD Video Group</A> puts these numbers in perspective: DVD-Video experienced 300% growth in the second quarter of 1999, when more than 730,000 hardware units were shipped (compared to 170,000 in the second quarter of 1998). Further, the Group says that shipments for the first six months of 1999 constitute an increase of 881,000 units over the same period in 1998, also representing more than 300% growth. (Over 1 million units shipped in the first half of 1999; in the first six months of 1998, slightly more than 260,000 units shipped.)

S<I>tar Wars&mdash;Episode 1: The Phantom Menace</I> might have grabbed all the attention as the first movie to be screened in the US from a digital source rather than a film print (see <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?454">previous story</A>), but it's not the only one to use the new technology. With virtually no fanfare at all, <I>An Ideal Husband</I> is being shown from a digital source at Laemmle's Sunset 5 theater in Los Angeles through July 15, 1999.

For 20 years, Pioneer has been laserdisc's biggest booster. But that era of home entertainment ended July 6, when <A HREF="http://pioneer-ent.com/">Pioneer Entertainment</A> announced that it would no longer produce or supply laserdiscs. The software division of Pioneer Electronics made the decision in view of the growing popularity of DVD, which, along with VHS tape, accounts for more than 90% of their business. The announcement is most certainly the kiss of death for the beleaguered format.

Last week, the <A HREF="http://www.cemacity.org">Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association</A> (CEMA) reported that sales of DVD players have reached 1 million units so far this year. CEMA also announced its revised projections for total DVD-player unit sales in 1999, raising the previous prediction of 1.8 million to 3 million.

As of June 27, <A HREF="http://www.disney.com/">Walt Disney Motion Picture Group</A> Chairman Richard Cook will add home video to his duty roster. A 28-year veteran with the Disney organization, Cook will supervise Buena Vista Home Entertainment, the studio's home-video operation. At the insistence of CEO Michael Eisner, Disney is restructuring in an attempt to become more profitable.

Bad news always comes in threes, goes the old adage. This folk wisdom proved true in Hollywood in late June as three major film studios announced cutbacks, layoffs, reorganizations---and the possible cancellation of a massive studio-building project.