AllThingsD » Wall-E

Starz Joins Comcast's "Web TV You'll Pay to See" Lineup

Peter Kafka — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:02:01 +0000

Liberty Media’s Starz Entertainment has signed on to Comcast’s “On Demand Online” program, which is the first test of the cable industry’s “authentication” and “entitlement” strategy. Or, as I like to call it, “Web TV You’ll Pay to See.”

Starz, which has the cable and Web rights to much of the Disney catalog, among other assets, says it will make some of those films, including “Wall-E” and “High School Musical 3,” available for Comcast’s (CMCSA) test, which is supposed to launch this month. Also available: TV series like “Crash” and non-Disney movies like Sony’s “Step Brothers.”

The idea is to protect cable subscription revenue by giving pay TV customers–but only pay TV customers–Web access to all the shows they get on TV and hope this keeps them from canceling their subscriptions. Time Warner (TWX) CEO Jeff Bewkes, who has been pushing a parallel effort he calls “TV Everywhere,” signed onto Comcast’s effort last month and offered up a handful of TV shows from his TBS and TNT networks; Comcast also has roped in Scripps, Rainbow and A&E.

I’m told Comcast will have a few more partners before it launches the trial, but the emphasis here is on “trial”: The cable guys appear confident they can handle the technical aspects of the program, but they’ve never tried anything like it before, so this is really a test to see if they can pull it off. And if that works, the real work will be the negotiations between cable programmers and cable providers over who gets what, when.

Disney: Could "Up" Be Pixar's First Dud?

Eric Savitz — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:41:46 +0000

One of the remarkable things about Pixar is that the Disney (DIS) unit has never produced a flop.

It’s an amazing list: “Toy Story,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Toy Story 2,” “Monsters Inc.,” “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles,” “Cars,” “Ratatouille” and “Wall-E.”

Nine movies, nine success stories.

Can they make it 10 for 10? The next big release for Pixar, which is coming up in late May, is a movie called “Up.” If you have kids, you’ve likely seen the trailer by now. At the heart of the movie is an old geezer named Carl, who is voiced by Ed Asner; he’s accompanied on some adventures by a 9-year-old Boy Scout sidekick named Russell.

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THQ Slides on Weak Outlook; Where's Wall-E?

Eric Savitz — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:09:46 +0000

Oh, Wall-E, where did you go?

THQ (THQI) shares hit the skids in late trading, after the videogame publisher provided a weak outlook for the March 2009 fiscal year.

For the fiscal second quarter ended September, the company posted sales of $164.8 million and a non-GAAP loss of 46 cents a share. THQ noted that this was worse than its previously forecast loss of 35-39 cents a share “primarily due to lower-than-anticipated international sales” of its Wall-E game and higher-than-expected sales returns and allowances.

THQ unveiled a new strategic plan that includes the closure of five studios, resulting in the reduction of 250 jobs, or about 17 percent of its studio staff. The company also cut its fiscal 2010 product development spending plans by about $100 million, which brings its total budget for 2010 $30 million below the 2009 level.

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Disney Combines Digital Units (Here's the Iger Memo)

Kara Swisher — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:52:17 +0000

In what is likely to turbocharge its heft in the digital space, according to an internal email sent out by Walt Disney (DIS) CEO Bob Iger, the entertainment company is combining its Disney Interactive Studios and the Walt Disney Internet Group.

The new unit, called Disney Interactive Media Group–will be headed by WDIG’s Steve Wadsworth.

WDIG has a wide range of properties, like Club Penguin and Disney.com. Disney Interactive Studios makes a range of games for Disney brands like “Hannah Montana” and “Wall-E.”

Here’s the memo, with email address removed:

From: Bob Iger
Sent: Wed Jun 04 19:44:22 2008
Subject: Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG)

In order to take advantage of rapid advancements in interactive digital media across all platforms as well as the convergence of connected console, Internet and mobile-based games, the company is combining Disney Interactive Studios (DIS) and the Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) into a new unit–Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG)–effective immediately.

This new unit, which will be led by Steve Wadsworth, will have global responsibility for development and distribution of all Disney-branded interactive digital media and entertainment for all digital interactive platforms. Existing management teams will continue to run the combined group, and Steve will work with [DIS EVP and GM] Graham Hopper and the WDIG and DIS management teams to optimize for new opportunities this creates.

Digital media is a high priority for our company, and focusing all of our Disney-branded interactive digital media efforts in one group will ensure we are best positioned to maximize this emerging and dynamic opportunity. We have made fantastic progress through the efforts of Disney Internet Group and Disney Interactive Studios, and the combined organization will maximize the experience, expertise and talent of both groups across all platforms to be a world-class interactive digital media company.

The uniqueness of the Disney brand provides us an opportunity and an imperative to create a unified Disney-branded experience and community across all connected devices. Additionally, as console and handheld games become more connected to the Internet, and as Internet and mobile become increasingly robust destinations for games and a range of interactive entertainment, we are taking this opportunity to integrate these activities.

We have strong momentum in place in all of our digital media areas, and I’m confident that the newly combined DIMG management team will create one new organization that is well-integrated to maximize the opportunities that we have before us.

Thank you for your great work to date and for what you will do in the future, as we strive to be the very best in the digital media and entertainment space.

Bob