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To: J Fieb who wrote (30892)	3/13/1998 11:37:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

DVD hits the UK in April....................................... ijumpstart.com DVD-VIDEO TO LAUNCH IN APRIL <Picture><Picture><Picture> The long-awaited April UK launch of DVD-Video (see IM162) was announced officially last week. In a remarkable show of unity, given DVD's rocky history, the members of the UK DVD Committee - which numbers five software companies, four hardware companies and two trade associations - all spoke as one. While Warner Bros. and MGM did not participate in the launch event, they are firmly behind launch plans as members of the Committee. However, the member companies have not agreed a fixed launch date for the format; they have identified a launch 'corridor' beginning in April. For example, Columbia Tristar will launch titles on 6 April, whereas Warner Music is expected to launch titles in late May. A grand total of 300 titles are promised by Christmas and prices are expected to be from Pounds 17-25. Steve Brown of Columbia Tristar, speaking on behalf of the Committee, said the release package "has been selected to convey a balanced offering" and includes feature, non-feature, music and family titles. Outlets will be retail and rental video stores plus the hardware business. The Committee estimates around that there will be 4-500 outlets initially, rising to around 1,000 by Christmas. He said the retailers were "bursting with excitement." As we predicted in IM 158, the multichannel audio standards adopted by the publishers show a distinct bias towards Dolby's AC-3 system. Polygram will use AC-3 only (although of the initial releases only two titles, Sleepers and Trainspotting, will have multichannel sound) and Columbia Tristar will use both systems, although Steve Brown said this might change over time. Warner Vision (which will launch titles including Eric Clapton Unplugged and The Three Tenors in Concert 1994) will use AC-3 on one side of a DVD-10 disc, and PCM stereo on the other. Warner Vision's Frank Brunger told IM that this was to ensure "maximum bit rate." VCI and Carlton (who distribute both feature film and TV material in the UK) will use AC-3 only. Initial releases will not be timed to coincide with their VHS counterparts. The Committee said this was because it was following the US strategy of getting retailers used to DVD before the Christmas push, at which time titles will be released simultaneously. "It is important that we have a day and date release with VHS," said Mike Bridger of Polygram. "It is our target." Columbia Tristar's Steve Brown agreed. "The objective is to get DVD programming out as soon as possible," he said. IM analysis The announcement of a UK DVD-Video launch marks the turning point in our DVD coverage. From now on we will turn our attentions increasingly to DVD-ROM and hybrid DVD-Video/DVD-ROM titles, and the opportunities they present to the multimedia publisher.