2E YORK SUNDAY NEWS c SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2010

IPad could offer Struggling to survive

newspapers
Newspapers are hoping to boost profits
through the electronic subscriptions.
By JOHN BOUDREAU
San Jose Mercury News
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Apple
is expected to announce soon
a new subscription plan for
newspapers, which hope tab-
lets like the iPad will eventu-
ally provide a new source of
profit as media companies
struggle with declining print
circulation and advertising
revenue.
Apple did not respond to a
request for comment. But
Roger Fidler, head of digital
publishing at the Donald W.
Reynolds Journalism Institute
in Columbia, Mo., said Apple
probably will take a 30 per-
cent cut of all subscriptions
sold through the company’s
online App Store, and as
much as 40 percent of the ad-
vertising revenue from publi-
cations’ apps.
The Cupertino, Calif., com-
pany has agreed to provide
an opt-in function for sub-
While a handful of nation-
al papers offer app subscrip-
tions to iPad users, major
metropolitan papers across
the country are getting ready
to roll out their own publica-
tion apps and have been in
discussions with Apple.
Industry leaders hope
tablet devices and subscrip-
tion-based digital editions
can help newspapers stem, if
not reverse, losses incurred
after they began offering con-
tent online for free years ago.
“Newspapers are seriously
trying to re-create the tradi-
tional print model in digital
editions for tablets and
e-readers,” Fidler said.
Publishers wanted to pay
Apple a fee rather than a cut
of subscription and advertis-
ing revenue and are not
happy with Apple’s terms, he
said. They had hoped to offer CONTRA COSTA TIMES — DEAN COPPOLA
app editions as part of sub- Employee Gabe Santos restocks DVD rentals Aug. 17 at Silver Screen Video at El Cerrito Plaza in El Cerrito, Calif. Video rental
scription bundles that in- stores have all but disappeared the past few years with onset of video rental cubes and online streaming, such as Netflix.
clude print versions of the

Redbox killed the video store

scribers to allow Apple to paper. Instead, they must use
share with publishers their Apple as an intermediary
information. with subscribers.

BEST OF THE BIZ BLOGS

The once-dominant nomic times coupled with
new ways to deliver movies
York County home prices remain low video rental stores will likely lead to a slow
If you own a home in York County, the good news is that are now almost bleed that is expected to
your investment didn’t fall in value over last year’s numbers. follow the same path as the
However, the median sale price remained 6 percent below impossible to find. typewriter-repair shop.
last year. Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, the median sale price of
a local home dropped from $159,900 in 2009 to $150,000 this By DAVID MORRILL When the Lafranchis first
Contra Costa Times entered the market, Blockbus-
year, according to the Realtors Association of York & Adams
Counties. ter was emerging as the in-
Once found on every Main dustry heavyweight. Today,
While the county remained
Street and strip mall, tradi- the company is struggling, to
in the black in terms of number
tional brick-and-mortar video say the least. Blockbuster has
of homes, the results did slip a
bit between July and August. stores are harder than ever to lost $1.1 billion since the start
In the first eight months of find. Their scarcity is ex- of 2008. It is trying to escape
the year, the number of homes pected to grow. leases on 500 or more of its
sold climbed 3 percent from Less than one year ago, 3,425 stores in the U.S., and in
2,555 to 2,632 properties. the top two players in this in- the past year, more than 1,000
But, between Jan. 1 and July dustry were Blockbuster and Blockbuster stores have
31, the number of homes sold jumped 10 percent over the Hollywood Video. In Febru- closed.
prior year. ary, Hollywood Video shut
— SEAN ADKINS, In a nod to the success of
down, and Blockbuster is ex- video-rental kiosks offered by
yorkblog.com/openhouse-york pected to file Chapter 11 the company Redbox, Block-
bankruptcy as early as this
Google unveils new feature month.
buster has deployed about
6,000-branded vending ma-
Google recently unveiled “Google Instant,” a feature that While the mighty have chine that rent DVDs for $1
displays results as users type. fallen, the mom-and-pop per night. Many Safeway gro-
The company said the new feature would save 2 to 5 sec- video stores are doing every- cery stores now have Block-
onds per search. thing they can to survive. buster kiosks in them.
“If everyone uses Google Instant globally, we estimate this When Rick and Scott Lafran-
will save more than 3.5 billion seconds a day,” Google said. chi opened their first of eight John Dwyer rented the
“That’s 11 hours saved every second.” Silver Screen Video Centers movie “Date Night“ from a
I found it somewhat distracting, having the screen change Redbox kiosk in Danville,
24 years ago in the San Fran-
so quickly while I typed in my search. The company allows Calif., recently. He said he
cisco Bay Area, Blockbuster
users to turn off the feature on its “preferences” page. misses going to video stores
— KEVIN HORAN, was seen as a dark cloud
threatening their business. and perusing the selections,
yorkblog.com/biz but being able to grab one for
Now, they hope to avert the DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS —FILE
same fate expected for the na- a dollar while picking up eggs
Lost tuba? Pay up, $2,500 tional video rental chain. and cereal is a worthy trade
Joe Weihbrecht of Dover Township uses a Blockbuster
machine at a Rutters in Manchester Township. Weihbrecht said
My son has decided to play in the band at West York. His off.
“We’ve always heard that he used to go to a brick-and-mortar Blockbuster but had
instrument of choice? “The video stores take the migrated to Redbox and was trying the Blockbuster machine
we’re not going to make it
The tuba. two things I don’t have a lot of because of a promotion.
much longer, but here we still
My thoughts are, if you can hold it, then try and play it. right now: time and money,”
Luckily, the school said it has a tuba he can play at school are,” Rick said. “It’s been a
great run so far, and hopeful- he said. “It’s unfortunate, but
and it will let us borrow a tuba
to play at home. Prevents us ly it will keep going.” that’s the way it is.” Gone by the wayside
from having to lug a tuba to But if the past 24 years For the owners of Silver In 2003, there were 25,042 establishments that focused primarily
and from school. were thunderstorms, the next Screen Video Center, the key on DVD, video game and VHS rentals, and industry revenues were
We got a bit of a reality $11.9 billion according to IBIS World, a Los Angeles-based research
years may be a hurricane in to their survival is that firm. In 2010, revenues dropped to 17,369 stores with revenues of
check this week in a letter that was sent home from school. comparison, analysts predict. they’ve “sharpened their pen- $7.8 billion. And five years from now, numbers are expected to drop
Lose the school tuba, pay $2,500. cils” and made adjustments even further.
Ouch. No matter how much “The two primary issues are convenience and price,” said
to keep operations afloat.
Fortunately for us, a tuba is hard to lose. people enjoy walking the George VanHorn, senior analyst at IBIS World. “People are finding
— CATHY HIRKO, aisles of video stores to seek Rick and Scott are confi- alternatives in other distribution channels so they don’t have to go to
yorkblog.com/biz out obscure titles, rough eco- dent there’s still a market for the same types of retail stores they had to 10 years ago. As a result,
obscure titles. They try to we’ve seen the numbers drop eight years in a row.”
have a good balance of new
releases and hard-to-find Redbox’s Top 10 DVD rentals
First Grade Library Card Campaign titles. Often, they’ll have spe-
cial sections devoted to spe- The Top 10 DVD rentals at Redbox kiosks from Sept. 6-12:
September 13 - October 1 cific actors, such as Dennis 1. Date Night (Fox)
Hopper, who recently died. 2. Killers (Lionsgate)
3. The Back-Up Plan (Sony)
“They might come across 4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Fox)
5. Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too? (Lions Gate)
something they otherwise 6. Solitary Man (Anchor Bay)
might not have thought 7. Repo Men (Universal)
about,” Scott said. 8. Clash of the Titans (2010) (Warner)
9. Cop Out (Warner)
To start an independent 10. The Joneses (Fox)
video store now “would be — McClatchy Newspapers
Great prizes & a chance suicidal,” Rick said.
to meet Author Tedd Arnold!
Hollywood film studios
on their rising success be- phased out in 20 years. Thou-
have tried to give video stores
cause the majority of their sands of titles are available
a break in their competition
subscribers opt for older via streaming, which can be
with online streaming and
titles. With 11 straight years of watched on video-game con-
kiosks. For example, certain
earning growth, Netflix cur- soles such as Xbox 360, PS3
titles will be made available
rently has more than 15 mil- and Wii.
in stores 28 days before
lion subscribers. “We have more selections
they’re available in kiosks or
to our customers than anyone
through Netflix. Steve Swasey, vice presi- can watch in a lifetime,”
Los Gatos, Calif.-based dent of corporate communica- Swasey said. “We literally
Parents, help us Shoot for the GOAL of Netflix officials said conces- tions for Netflix, said DVDs have something for every-
sion has made little impact as we know them might be one.”
putting a FREE library card in the hands
of ALL first grade students!
Watch for details coming home from your child’s school*
*Homeschool/cyberschool students may apply at any of our libraries
Crunch much of a burden that pay-
ments on services are missed.
For example, 13-year-old
Sponaugle said in order
for small business, theymust
find ways to differentiate
If new customers Loganville Satellite has been
especially hard hit by charge
themselves, such as adding
more customer service.
Generously sponsored by:
fail to pay, DirecTV
GOAL... and Dish Network
backs, Wolfe said.
Companies such as Dish
Bob Reed, a longtime Lo-
ganville Satellite customer,
Network and DIRECTV pay said the company cut down
Encouraging Kids To take back money retailers $500 for each new in- trees so the satellite dish at-

Get Excited About they give retailers. stallation. If a customer fails

to pay their bill, the compa-
tached to his camper would
function properly.
nies will rescind that money. “There is nothing that they
Reading! Media sponsored by: Continued from 1E
• • •
In the past, Loganville Sa-
tellite averaged about one to
haven’t done for me,” he said.
“(Their technicians) don’t
two charge backs a year, leave until I’m satisfied. They
are more frugal and more sa-
Wolfe said. are just like family. They take
vings-conscious. They are
“In the past two weeks, their shoes off at the door;
more careful with their dis-
we’ve probably had seven you don’t find many guys that
posable income.”
www.yorklibraries.org And for some residents,
charge backs,” he said.
“That’s what has really hurt
do that.”

the recession has been so us.” sadkins@ydr.com; 771-2047