MTV, Nick debut titles on Amazon's CreateSpace
On-demand DVDs include Hey Arnold!, Celebrity Rehab
By Danny King -- Video Business, 8/27/2008
AUG. 27 | Viacom's Nickelodeon and MTV Networks units will sell DVD versions of shows ranging from reality titles such as Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew to children's shows including Hey Arnold! on Amazon.com's CreateSpace DVD-on-demand service, as Viacom tries to bolster its home entertainment revenue.
MTV Networks reality shows My Super Sweet 16 and Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County, along with Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh and Danny Phantom are other shows that are included in the agreement, the companies said this week. Celebrity Rehab’s four-disc set sells for $29.95 on CreateSpace, while the three-disc set for Newport Harbor sells for $24.95.
Amazon, the world's largest Internet retailer, has used its DVD-on-demand service to strike deals with entities ranging from Time Warner's HBO to the Tribeca Film Institute because the service facilitates sales of titles without the content producers having to spend on creating a DVD inventory.
"Nickelodeon can make its previously unavailable titles available to millions of customers on Amazon.com for very little cost and without the risk associated with keeping physical inventory," said CreateSpace spokeswoman Amanda Wilson, who added that CreateSpace will be the first distributor to sell the Nickelodeon titles on DVD.
Viacom said last month that its Paramount Home Entertainment unit, the No. 4 U.S. home entertainment company, had $67 million in second-quarter DVD sales, up 12% from a year earlier. Higher catalog sales driven by the May 22 theatrical release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull more than offset lower revenue from new DVD releases such as Cloverfield and The Spiderwick Chronicles.
In June, HBO made its documentaries available on CreateSpace, and the Tribeca Film Institute said it would facilitate the digital transfer of hard-to-find movies, educational films and documentaries by using CreateSpace as its DVD-on-demand partner.
CreateSpace, formerly known as CustomFlix Labs Inc., was founded in 2002 and acquired by Amazon three years ago. Amazon doesn’t disclose the unit’s sales or earnings.
