OPINION: DVD tent pole
By Paul Sweeting -- Video Business, 2/13/2009 11:42:00 AM
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And not necessarily in a good way.
In Viacom Inc.’s fourth-quarter earnings call last week, CEO Philippe Dauman made it clear that concern over declining DVD sales is now driving creative decisions at Paramount Pictures.
“As we look at the green-lighting process, we will take into account the shift in the landscape,” Dauman said. “We have to take into account the possibility that the decline in home entertainment revenues will continue at least for a while, and when we green-light films, we will take that into account.”
Later he added, “Even with the contraction in home entertainment, big tent-pole titles such as our own Iron Man continue to perform well. So you do see differentiation among the DVD titles that are put out. I think tent-poles for all studios will be increasingly important in this sort of environment.”
Translation: We’re going to make more of the kinds of movies we can still sell on DVD (particularly internationally) and fewer of everything else.
Walt Disney Co. chairman/CEO Robert Iger was less explicit but no less clear in his own earnings call last week.
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