Audio Video News

According to recent statistics released by the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A>, manufacturer-to-dealer sales of video products grew by 28.6% in December, totaling just under 5.6 million units and rounding out a year of growth in the category. The CEA also reports that total sales of video products in 1999 topped 60 million units, increasing by 22% over 1998. In addition, the numbers indicate that virtually every category (with the exception of direct-view color TVs) experienced double-digit increases for the year.

A coalition of Canadian broadcasters is seeking to permanently shut down <A HREF="http://www.icravetv.com/">iCraveTV.com</A>, a website that until recently had been retransmitting US and Canadian TV programming over the Internet. The site was on the receiving end of an <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?629">American lawsuit</A> filed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania late in January by a group of television networks, film studios, and professional sports leagues.

The Home Entertainment 2000 show, originally planned to be held in Rye, New York this spring, has been canceled. Show staff has received feedback from manufacturers and dealers, who feel that the rooms at the Rye venue are too small, and that a suburban location is not optimal. EmapUSA VP Jaqueline Augustine states that "We want to hold a successful show, and this venue could not guarantee our success."

In an effort to kickstart the digital feature-film production and distribution market, <A HREF="http://www.intertainer.com">Intertainer</A> and <A HREF="http://www.artisanent.com">Artisan Entertainment</A> announced last week a new agreement to co-develop, produce, and distribute five feature-length motion pictures, to be shot and edited completely in the digital format. Intertainer says it will showcase the films on its entertainment "on-demand" service, and Artisan will retain domestic rights to the features.

High school and college students whose parents may be wondering if little Ricky will ever stop playing with the video camera now have a scholarship program to call their own. The creation of the Zoom Culture Undiscovered Genius Scholarship program was announced last week at the Sundance Festival.

Showtime Networks has begun offering its East and West Coast feeds in high-definition video mode with Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound. <A HREF="http://www.showtimeonline.com/">Showtime</A> is the first premium cable network to do so, the company claims.

The old <I>Mission: Impossible</I> TV series always opened with the head of the spy team picking up his instructions on a miniature tape recorder stashed in an obscure place. An authoritative voice would give Mr. Phelps his instructions&mdash;always with the option of declining the assignment&mdash;and then announce that the tape would self-destruct, which it did with a burst of flame and a puff of smoke.