Say goodbye to those circular specks in the top right corner of your local movie theater screen. They tell the projectionist it’s time to switch reels, but those reels are now going for good.
This January will mark the first time that the majority of U.S. theater screens use digital projection rather than 35 millimeter film, according to a recent report by market research firm IHS Inc.
The digital craze started with the release of “Avatar” in 2009, which required a digital projector in order to show its 3-D version. The trend has accelerated during the past 18 months, with more than 20,000 screens in the U.S. converted to date.
The conversions have been a big boost to Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. The company, headquartered in Woodland Hills and Morristown, N.J. has provided conversion services for more than 8,000 of those screens.
The company acts as a middleman by providing theaters with $80,000 to $100,000 in financing needed and by contracting with the digital projector manufacturers, such as Christie Digital Systems in Kitchener, Ontario, for the installation.
Earlier this month, Cinedigm, which trades on the Nasdaq, reported record revenue of $23.5 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30. About $16 million came from 1,427 conversions during the quarter, the most it has handled in any quarter to date. The company’s losses also narrowed to $228,000 from $10.8 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Shares, which trade on the Nasdaq, have risen more than 50 percent in the past month. They closed at $1.66 on Nov. 17.
“We had dramatic increases in our deployment business,” said Chief Executive Chris McGurk. “Everything is clicking right now.”
The digital projectors show regular films and can be adapted to 3-D with the addition of technology from the makers of 3-D projection systems, such as industry leader RealD Inc. of Beverly Hills. The digital prints are distributed to the theaters in various formats, from discs to digital files.
The desire to show 3-D is helping drive the conversions, but so is a deal with the movie studios, which have pledged to cover some of costs of the conversion based on a formula that includes the ticket sales of movies.
That agreement is set to expire next September. That means most of the remaining analog screens are expected to switch to digital in the next year.
Out of Print
Sure, Spiderman and the Avengers got their start on the page, but youth-skewing superhero fans aren’t the demographic to extol the virtues of print.
Stan Lee’s POW Entertainment is on top of that. The company rolled-out an expansive digital strategy this month, announcing it will create a YouTube channel called “Stan Lee’s World of Heroes,” set to debut in spring 2012.
“Stan has been known for comic books and graphic novels,” said POW Executive Digital Strategist Scott Nocas, who was recently hired after working at Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. at their video game units. “When we sat down to talk, (the company) wanted to know how to expand his stories to new audiences.”
For the YouTube channel, POW will partner with Vuguru, a digital production company owned by Michael Eisner, the former Walt Disney Co. chief executive. The channel will fill-out its 24/7 programming by licensing outside content with superhero themes and fantasy: think “Harry Potter.”
The channel is part of YouTube’s $100 million move toward professional content, for which it has been courting Hollywood producers throughout the year. And POW’s digital strategy isn’t going to stop with the new streaming outlet.
The company is exploring opportunities in online gaming, e-book publishing and the sale of virtual goods, such as a Superman cape that can be worn by a virtual player in a video game.
“You can tell a story that starts on YouTube, releases items in the virtual world and tells another side of the story in an e-book,” Nocas said.
Holiday Cheer
It’s jingle all the way to the bank for KOST-FM (103.5).
The station owned by Clear Channel Communications switched to its Christmas music format Nov. 15 and is now awaiting its present in the form of a ratings hike.
It’s the 10th holiday season that the station has made the six-week switch from its regular adult contemporary format. And executives are expecting a repeat performance of last year, when the station jumped to the top spot in the Los Angeles and Orange County Arbitron ratings for the month of December – adding about 2 million listeners along the way.
“Ratings-wise it’s huge,” said Stella Prado, the station’s program director. “Everybody loves Christmas music.”
And that includes advertisers such as McDonalds Corp. and American Honda Motor Co., which is advertising its Acura luxury brand on the station during the holidays.
Staff reporter Jonathan Polakoff can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 226.
