Adult industry powerhouse Vivid Entertainment has picked sides in the war between the rival next generation DVD formats, Blu-ray and HD-DVD: both. Unlike all of the media oligarchs of mainstream media, Vivid is taking the more expensive but more accommodating route of making its future films available in both formats. According to Vivid Co-Chairman and Co-owner, Bill Asher, despite the increased costs, this decision will ultimately be worth it for the Cahuenga Pass-based firm so that it can maintain its position as the adult industry leader. “There will certainly be a greater cost increase for the company, but we’ve always created different versions of films, in terms of how explicit they are, how they’re edited or shot, so it’s an easy decision to make regardless of cost. If we’re not making films in both formats and somebody else is then we’re not the leaders of the industry.” Certainly, Vivid’s sales figures put it at the top of the adult entertainment industry heap, as Forbes magazine recently estimated that a third of all adult DVDs sold in the United States carry the Vivid name. At the moment, Vivid is currently purchasing a variety of types of new equipment to be able to produce films in both high-definition formats, needing new cameras and new editing equipment among other things. Asher declined to state a specific date for when Vivid would begin releasing films in these new formats, but he maintained that the transition is already underway. Vivid is the second adult industry company to make a decision regarding the new Hi-Def formats. Earlier this month, Van Nuys-based adult firm Digital Playground made public its decision to pick Sony’s Blu-Ray. The majority of the mainstream film and technology companies have already picked sides, with Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Pioneer LG Electronics, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Apple Computer, Electronic Arts, Twentieth Century Fox, Vivendi Universal and Walt Disney all throwing their weight behind Blu-Ray. Meanwhile, Toshiba, the leader of the HD-DVD consortium, has lined up consumer electronics manufacturers Sanyo and NEC, and entertainment companies HBO, New Line Cinema, Paramount Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video. Layoffs Expected When the dust settles after the surprising merger between the WB television station and UPN, most analysts expect there to be significant layoffs at both companies. Locally, that means that a lot of people at Warner Bros. Television’s Burbank-based operations could be finding themselves scrambling for new employment after this massive consolidation. According to David Miller, an analyst for Sanders, Morris and Harris, layoffs for Warner Bros. television are a near-certainty. There will certainly be layoffs at both companies. In particular, jobs in news gathering, back office functions and in scheduling are particularly vulnerable,” Miller said. “You only need one team to do those jobs. They also might run into difficulties over arguments regarding schedule placement. For instance, take the most important slot in any given week which is Thursday night at 8 p.m. UPN shows “Everybody Hates Chris” while the WB shows “Smallville.” If you move one of those shows to a different time slot, analysts might not like it.” Both the WB and UPN have both struggled since they launched in 1995, with the WB not turning a profit until 2000 and subsequently having trouble after that. In its 10-plus years in existence, UPN was never profitable. The new network, entitled The CW, will be aimed mainly at younger and minority viewers with both CBS Corp. and Warner Bros. owning half of the joint company. The network will draw on programming from both the WB and UPN. Locally, the CW will air on Tribune Co. owned., KTLA-5. Though both Barry Meyer, the head of Warner Bros. and Les Moonves, the head of CBS Corp. have publicly stated that they expect the network to have a good chance at being profitable in year one (it debuts this fall). However, Miller, along with several other analysts remain skeptical over the CW’s immediate profitability. “Once the networks are combined, there will certainly be some low hanging fruit on the cost side that will give them increased savings,” Miller said. However, historically the broadcast network business is littered with inconsistency for start up businesses. It took the Fox Network a very long time to break even and the WB and UPN both had major difficulties staying or becoming profitable. Even the Spanish language-giant Univision has had issues with profitability. This deal isn’t without risks and the new company will be fighting an uphill battle just to break even.” The CW will air 30 hours of programming, seven days a week, following the model of the WB. Six nights of prime time will air Monday through Friday, 8:00 until 10:00 p.m. and Sundays from 7:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. There will also be shows on weekday and Sunday afternoon and several hours of children’s programs on Saturday morning. The new network will be based in a new, yet-to-be-determined location. Currently, the WB is based in Burbank, while UPN has headquarters in Brentwood. Ixia Purchases Firm Calabasas-based voice and IP network testing firm, Ixia has inked a definitive agreement to purchase the mobile video and multimedia test product lines of Dilithium Networks for $5.1 million in cash. The acquisition is expected to close within two weeks and is subject to completion of certain contractual requirements. If completed, the acquisition is expected to be accretive in 2006. “The market for mobile video is expanding rapidly with the introduction of innovative product offerings by wireless carriers and content providers,” Cliff Hannel, Ixia’s vice president of acquisitions and strategy, said. “This is a new high-growth test market for Ixia that would extend our wireless offering into the cellular arena.” Dilithium Networks is a privately-held 3G video telephony firm for the mobile and broadband industries. Its Network Analyzer test product has an estimated 80 percent market share of the mobile video test market. This purchase of the product line marks Ixia’s initial entry into this new space.
