WARNER BROS. may lay off up to 1,000 workers as a result of the writers strike. The company issued 60-day warnings on November 12th in compliance with government regulations. With that period expiring, a Warner spokesperson confirmed that “some studio divisions will have to lay off employees.” In related news, a major Hollywood payroll company has gone out of business partially due to decreased business during the strike. Also, ICM has begun cutting the pay of agents and executives by as much as 30%, while using force majeure rules to stop paying some agents all together. The impact of the strike seems to be increasing significantly.
UNIVERSAL has dropped its exclusive support of HD DVD, giving yet another boost to Blu-ray. The studio will continue with the promotions it has already scheduled for the format and has not yet scrapped HD DVD support altogether. In related news, Paramount has an escape clause in its contract allowing it to get out if Warner drops support for HD DVD, which happened late last Friday. Paramount has not yet acted on that clause. Warner will fulfill its remaining HD DVD commitments through May 31st before going Blu-ray only.
CBS has reached a tentative agreement with the WGA on new contracts for news writers. The deal will cover over 500 writers, editors and assistants that have been working without a contract since April 2005. It offers a 3.5% raise followed by another raise in 2009, as well as a cash payment for certain workers that did not receive a raise during 2007. The deal must be approved by union members before going into effect.
APPLE will lower iTunes music prices in Britain after reaching an agreement with the European Commission. As a result, the Commission will drop charges against Apple stemming from the higher prices charged to British downloaders. Apple has contended that the music companies are forcing it to pay higher wholesale rates, which led to the higher iTunes prices. The company will lower prices within 6 months and reconsider contracts with labels that won’t lower their wholesale rates.
FYRE unveiled an impressive IPTV box this week that streams a large selection of DVD-quality video from multiple studios over the web. The box is free with monthly subscription packages and access to 20,000 titles. The catch? FyreTV was released at the “other” Expo in Las Vegas this week, the Adult Entertainment Expo. The box delivers on-demand IP-delivered adult programming to your TV. With the adult industry’s ability to blaze new trails in video delivery, this may be a box to keep an eye on.