Playboy CEO Christie Hefner announced yesterday plans to shut down its DVD business and focus on Internet video:
It is unavoidable that we reduce our cost structure to reflect current economic realities even as we continue to invest in our growth businesses.
We will also respond to changes in how consumers access content and advertisers use media.  Thus, [...]

Want to know why Steve Jobs is still calling Apple TV his “hobby”?
New research by The NPD Group offers an explanation:

41 percent of dollars budgeted for movies and video is spent on DVD movie purchases;
11 percent for purchases of TV programs on DVD;
29 percent on DVD rentals including Netflix and other video-subscription services;
18 percent is spent on [...]

By now, you’ve probably seen one of the live blogs of Steve Job’s Macworld Keynote.
You’ve probably also had a chance to read about Steve Jobs’ announcements, includin:

the new Macbook Air;
the Time Capsule wireless backup device;
updates to the iPod touch;
iTunes movie rentals;
the new Apple TV software;
the free iPhone updates; and
DVDs coming with an iTunes Digital Copy.

It [...]

U.S. video rental spending is well off its 2001 peak of $10.3 billion, but revenue from online subscriptions is beginning to put some steam back into the rental industry, according to Adams Media Research (AMR). AMR projects online subscription spending to increase by 41% to $1.9 billion in 2007.
“The five-year decline in the video rental [...]

MadZ Software has announced the release of version 2.5 of its DVD to iPod / PSP Video Converter software, an application that rips DVD video files and converts them into the appropriate format for uploading to and viewing on an Apple iPod Video or a Sony PSP.
According to the company, the app can convert almost [...]

Nielsen Media Research has released findings from its 3rd Quarter Home Technology Report which show that MP3 players are now found in a quarter of US homes, and that more U.S. households now own DVD players (81.2% of all households) than VCRs (79.2% of households).
The trends bode well for podcasting, if not for video tapes. [...]