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To: BillyG who wrote (38030)	1/6/1999 3:45:00 PM
From: DiViT	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

DVD is just a fad, used to hype stock. It won't amount to much... Best Buy Announces Record Sales for DVD ; Hardware and Software Sales Exceed All Expectations 01/06/99 PR Newswire (Copyright (c) 1999, PR Newswire) MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY), the nation's leading retailer of DVD products, today announced a record holiday season for DVD sales. DVD players, launched nationally by Best Buy in Spring 1997, have sold far beyond holiday expectations, while DVD movie sales exceeded $1 million in a single day this season. Best Buy sold $1.2 million in DVD software the day after Christmas, marking the first time Best Buy had sales of DVD movies higher than VHS movies. Year-to-date, sales of DVD movies at Best Buy exceeded $60 million with sell through of nearly 3 million DVD movies. E-commerce DVD sales on Best Buy's Web site ( bestbuy.com ), which began selling more than 1,500 DVD titles online late November, contributed to these record sales numbers. "Through the month, our ratio of software to hardware sales continued to escalate, leading us to believe that many DVD and Divx hardware purchasers were buying DVD software at Best Buy," Fenn added. "Strong holiday sales of DVD indicate that it is the preferred format for future movie viewing. With a mere one percent of US market penetration, DVD has tremendous growth potential." Record sales of the new technology can be attributed to increased assortment of movie titles, the affordability of $299 hardware and effective promotions. Sales of DVD players from Panasonic, Pioneer, RCA, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba averaged 10,000 units per month until November and December, when player sales for the two months exceeded 80,000 units. " DVD was by far the runaway consumer electronics gift this year. DVD player sales far exceeded our highest expectations," said Wade Fenn, Best Buy's Executive Vice President -- Marketing. "By mid-December we sold out of many models and were unable to fully meet demand. We predict we could have sold another 20,000 units, making December a 70,000 unit month." Best Buy partnered with hardware manufacturers, as well as Warner Home Video and Hollywood Video to offer five free movies and 13 free rentals with the purchase of any DVD player from November through January. Minneapolis-based Best Buy Co., Inc. is the nation's largest volume specialty retailer of name-brand consumer electronics, personal computers, entertainment software and appliances. The Company is ranked 199 on the Fortune 500 with annual revenues of $8.4 billion. Best Buy operates stores in 36 states. For CDs and DVD movies, visit the Company's online store at bestbuy.com /CONTACT: Laurie Bauer of Best Buy, 612-947-2450/ 08:31 EST

To: BillyG who wrote (38030)	1/6/1999 3:48:00 PM
From: DiViT	Respond to of 50808

DVD won't take off until it's recordable... Image Entertainment, Inc. Will Report a Significant Increase in DVD Revenues For its Third Quarter Ended December 31, 1998 01/06/99 PR Newswire (Copyright (c) 1999, PR Newswire) DVD Revenues Expected to Be Up Approximately 190% Over the Comparable Fiscal 1998 Third Quarter and Up Approximately 120% Over the Second Quarter Ended September 30, 1998 DVD Sales to Internet Retailers in Excess of $3 Million for the Third Quarter Ended December 31, 1998 CHATSWORTH, Calif., Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Image Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: DISK), a leading licensee and distributor of optical disc programming, today announced that for its third quarter ended December 31, 1998, DVD net sales for the Company are expected to be in excess of $14.5 million, an approximate 190% increase over DVD net sales of $5 million reported for the comparable prior-year period, and an approximate 120% increase over DVD net sales of $6.6 million reported for the second quarter ended September 30, 1998. The Company intends to report actual fiscal 1999 third quarter results by no later than February 15, 1999. Martin W. Greenwald, Image's President and CEO said, "During the Holiday selling season we saw strong DVD sales to both traditional and Internet retailers. For the first time, our quarterly DVD sales exceeded our laserdisc sales. DVD related sales will be in excess of 65% of total fiscal 1999 third quarter net sales, a significant increase over the 19% reported for the comparable prior-year period. Further, we believe total net sales for our third quarter ended December 31, 1998 will be in excess of $20 million and that we will report profit for the quarter." Greenwald continued, "Approximately $3 million or 23% of net DVD sales in our third quarter came from sales to Internet customers versus approximately 4% for the comparable prior-year quarter. There is no question that the Internet represents a major growth area for the Company. We are currently providing DVD programming on a nonexclusive basis to most of the major on-line services, including Amazon.com, DVDExpress, NetFlix, Reel.com, as well as Kencranes.com, the website of the entity the Company is currently in the process of acquiring. Our traditional retail accounts, including Musicland, Best Buy, Tower and The Wherehouse also increased the amount of DVD software they purchased from us during the quarter." Image Entertainment, Inc. has exclusive DVD license and distribution agreements with a number of program suppliers, including Universal, Orion and Playboy. The Company is also the largest licensee and distributor of laserdiscs with the most extensive library of laserdisc titles in the industry. Some of Image's exclusive laserdisc program suppliers include Disney's Buena Vista Home Video, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video, MGM Home Entertainment, New Line Home Video, Orion Home Video, The Criterion Collection and Playboy Home Video. Visit Image on-line at image-entertainment.com for corporate and marketing information, DTS information and the latest in DVD and laserdisc releases. This release contains forward-looking statements concerning: (i) Image's expectation of fiscal 1999 third quarter total and DVD related revenues; (ii) Image's expectation that it will report a profit for its fiscal 1999 third quarter; and, (iii) the Internet as a major growth area for the Company. Actual results may differ materially from the expectations contained herein. Additional detailed information concerning a number of factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from the expectations contained herein is readily available in the Company's March 31, 1998 Form 10-K and June 30 and September 30, 1998 Form 10-Q's filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. /CONTACT: Jeff M. Framer, Chief Financial Officer of Image Entertainment, Inc., 818-407-9100, ext. 299, or jframer@image-entertainment.com; or investors, Lillian Armstrong of Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates, Investor Relations/San Francisco, 415-433-3777, ext. 101, or lillian@lhai-sf.com, for Image Entertainment/ 08:00 EST Contact: /CONTACT: Jeff M. Framer, Chief Financial Officer of Image Entertainment, Inc., 818-407-9100, ext. 299, or jframer@image-entertainment.com; or investors, Lillian Armstrong of Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates, Investor Relations/San Francisco, 415-433-3777, ext. 101, or lillian@lhai-sf.com, for Image Entertainment/ 08:00 EST

To: BillyG who wrote (38030)	1/6/1999 3:54:00 PM
From: DiViT	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Sonic Solutions Announces DVD Authoring Tools for New Apple Power Macintosh G3; Apple Power Macintosh G3 Ideal Platform for DVD Authoring and Audio Editing 01/05/99 Business Wire (Copyright (c) 1999, Business Wire) NOVATO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 5, 1999--Sonic Solutions (Nasdaq:SNIC) announced today complete support for the new line of Apple Power Macintosh G3 professional desktop computers introduced today at the San Francisco Macworld Expo. The new Apple CPUs, targeted at video and multimedia developers, are ideally suited to DVD authoring and professional audio editing with their high-speed CPUs, Firewire data I/O, and integrated DVD playback. "Apple led the desktop publishing revolution over a decade ago and now they are leading the desktop video and audio revolution," said Mark Ely, Director of Product Marketing for Sonic Solutions. "Apple's new CPUs are ideal production tools for creating digital media. In conjunction with Sonic's professional audio and DVD tools, video and multimedia professionals can take their projects from initial concept to CD, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, or DVD-ROM." Sonic Solutions is the world leader in DVD authoring and production systems with more tools installed in more DVD production facilities than all other DVD tool makers combined. Sonic's DVD production systems, DVD Creator and DesktopDVD, have been used to create thousands of DVD titles worldwide, for applications ranging from feature film releases to corporate and industrial titles. Sonic's complete line of DVD production tools will be available for the new Macintosh CPUs, starting Jan. 15. SonicStudio HD, Sonic's newly-developed digital audio workstation for DVD -Audio and high-density 96kHz, 24-bit audio editing will also be compatible with the new Apple systems when it ships later this quarter. Apple's new hardware is targeted toward video and graphics professionals who need maximum power to manipulate video, audio and multimedia data. With Firewire (IEE-1394) ports built in, each new Apple system has the ability to connect to DV Camcorders as well as a new generation of hard drive peripherals. These systems are also equipped for DVD-Video and DVD -ROM playback, making them ideal platforms for DVD authoring. About Sonic Solutions (Nasdaq:SNIC) Based in Marin County, California, Sonic Solutions designs and manufactures DVD publishing systems used by video, audio and multimedia professionals around the world to prepare music, video, film, graphics and entertainment software. Sonic DVD Creator and DesktopDVD are the leading systems for producing content for the DVD format. Sonic also offers SonicStudio, the leading digital audio workstation used by audio professionals to prepare recorded sound for release on DVD and CD, as well as for film and video soundtracks and broadcast. Sonic is a leader in advancing DVD -Video and DVD -Audio technology and is a full voting-member of the DVD Forum, the standards-setting body for the DVD format. Sonic Solutions can be contacted on the web at: sonic.com. The above paragraphs of this press release contain forward looking statements that are based upon current expectations. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties including, among others, the timely introduction and acceptance of new products, costs associated with new product introductions, the transition of products to new hardware configurations and platforms and other factors, including those discussed in the Company's annual and quarterly reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release should be read in conjunction with the Company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which contain a more detailed discussion of the Company's business including risks and uncertainties that may affect future results. Note to Editors: Sonic, Sonic Solutions, the Sonic logo, DesktopDVD, DVD Creator, DVD PrePlay, DVD Producer, DVD Production Alliance and DVD Studio are trademarks of Sonic Solutions. All other company or product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Specifications, pricing and delivery schedules are subject to change without notice. CONTACT: Sonic Solutions, Novato Paul Lefebvre, 415/893-8000 paul_lefebvre@sonic.com 19:24 EST JANUARY 5, 1999 Contact: CONTACT: Sonic Solutions, Novato Paul Lefebvre, 415/893-8000 paul_lefebvre@sonic.com