HOME VIDEO BOOMS VHS BLOCKBUSTERS, DVD SALES FUEL RISE.Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer Fueled by phenomenal DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. sales of ``Pearl Harbor'' and VHS (Video Home System) A half-inch, analog videocassette recorder (VCR) format introduced by JVC in 1976 to compete with Sony's Betamax, introduced a year earlier. sales of ``The Princess Diaries'' during the holiday season, Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment inched past Warner Home Video Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video (for Warner Communications, Inc.). It was re-named Warner Home Video in 1980. for the 2001 home video sales crown. Disney's $1.72 billion market share edged Warner Home Video by less than $1 million, while Universal Home Video came in third at $1.5 billion, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. sales figures sales figures npl → cifras fpl de ventas compiled by Video Business, an industry trade publication. Top-selling Disney titles included ``Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor, land-locked harbor, on the southern coast of Oahu island, Hawaii, W of Honolulu; one of the largest and best natural harbors in the E Pacific Ocean. In the vicinity are many U.S. military installations, including the chief U.S. ,'' which generated more than $300 million in sales, and ``Dinosaur'' and ``Remember the Titans,'' each enjoying more than $200 million in sales. Three titles reached more than $150 million: ``The Emperor's New Groove,'' ``Spy Kids'' and the direct-to-video feature ``Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure.'' ``We've had a great, consistent flow of product month in and month out,'' said Bob Chapek, president of Buena Vista Home Entertainment. ``I think the DVD wind at our back and people cocooning co·coon·ing n. Retreat into the seclusion of one's own home during leisure time, as for privacy or escape: "The harassments of daily life more helped out a lot too.'' Chapek said sales of the ``Pearl Harbor'' DVD were twice as high as Disney's research had indicated they would be, a development that he attributed to the current surge in patriotism. Scott Hettrick, editor in chief of Video Business, said Disney benefited from a broad mix of big hits, big-selling video premieres and catalog catalog, descriptive list, on cards or in a book, of the contents of a library. Assurbanipal's library at Nineveh was cataloged on shelves of slate. The first known subject catalog was compiled by Callimachus at the Alexandrian Library in the 3d cent. B.C. titles. ``All the studios enjoyed a huge surge in sales of their catalog titles because they put them out on DVD,'' he said. ``Those with the best and biggest libraries benefit the most.'' Second-place Warner Home Video may have finished behind Disney in dollar figures but actually sold more videos (127.8 million) than Disney (104.3 million). This was accomplished mainly on the strength of its catalog sales, which sold in high volume for a low price, according to Video Business. Warner products cost approximately $4 less on average than a Disney video. ``Warner was more of a volume distributor,'' Hettrick said. ``They had an enormous number of titles out exploiting their catalog. But they went with lower prices so their revenue wasn't as high.'' While its catalog isn't as extensive as Disney's or Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) .', Universal scored big with blockbuster sales of ``Shrek,'' the top-seller of 2001 at more than $400 million; ``Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' at more than $300 million; ``Meet the Parents'' at more than $200 million; and ``The Mummy Returns'' at $192 million. ``2001 is the year that I wish never ended,'' said Universal Studios Home Video President Craig Kornblau. ``It was just a fantastic year. We had a fabulous year in DVD. What's more striking is that VHS held up remarkably well. From where we sit, good news for DVD doesn't necessarily mean bad news for VHS.'' But it is the DVD format See VOB and DVD. that is creating the most excitement for Universal this year, with the studio already off to a fast start with huge DVD sales of one of its biggest summer hits, ``The Fast and the Furious.'' The DVD sold a phenomenal 2.1 million copies during its first day in stores Jan. 2 and retailers have not been able to keep it in stock, Kornblau said. The company released another highly anticipated DVD title, ``American Pie 2,'' on Tuesday. ``This is definitely a hit-driven business,'' Kornblau said. ``Consumers are able to purchase at a reasonable price quickly after the theatrical run.'' In fourth place overall was Fox Home Entertainment, which had a huge-selling DVD with ``Planet of the Apes'' and scored well with the DVD packaging of entire seasons of the television series ``The X-Files,'' ``The Simpsons'' and ``Buffy the Vampire vampire, in folklore, animated corpse that sucks the blood of humans. Belief in vampires has existed from the earliest times and has given rise to an amalgam of legends and superstitions. Slayer.'' With DVD sales up about 150 percent, studios saw the format revive the home video industry in both sales and rentals. Overall, Hettrick said, the home video is poised for what will likely be the biggest year ever for the industry. ``2002 is shaping up to be even bigger than 2001,'' he said. ``You've got 'Harry Potter,' 'Monster's, Inc.' and 'Lord of the Rings,' all huge releases that will be coming to video. Plus you'll have blockbuster summer releases like 'Spider-Man' that will hit by Christmas.'' |
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