Barry Willis

DVD's early adopters were almost entirely technophile males, and their tastes in films were completely predictable: action and science fiction. Now that DVD players are finding their way into more homes, the popularity of other film genres in the digital format is growing.

Move over, TiVo. Step aside, ReplayTV. Canada's <A HREF="http://www.mgisoft.com/">MGI Software</A> has introduced new software that will turn Pentium III computers into digital VCRs. The development was announced in mid-May at the Electronic Entertainment Expo '99 in Los Angeles.

Lately, the movie business has been nothing but trouble for <A HREF="http://www.seagram.com/">Seagram, Ltd.</A> The Montreal-based liquor and entertainment conglomerate reported losses totaling $199 million on a net income of $461 million for its third fiscal quarter, ending March 31.

Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) television service might soon gain a competitive edge against cable, thanks to broadcasting-reform legislation passed by the US House of Representatives on Tuesday, April 26. The bill, which won near-unanimous approval in a vote of 422 to 1, lifts restrictions on the transmission of local television signals by satellite services, which is one of the primary advantages held by cable companies. Representative Robert Brady (D-PA) cast the sole dissenting vote. So-called "local-into-local" retransmissions are banned by the <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov/">Federal Communications Commission</A>, whose arcane regulations have been upheld by Federal judges, as happened in Miami last month in a <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?392">case</A> brought by major networks against <A HREF="http://www.directv.com/">DirecTV</A>.