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News in Brief

KIT DIGITAL says its common stock will be delisted from The NASDAQ Stock Market effective 21 December 2012. Trading of the company's common stock is currently subject to a trading halt. The delisting is precipitated by the KIT's determination not to pay certain fees based on its current circumstances and outlook, which include the previously disclosed listing violation for its failure to timely file its third quarter Form 10-Q, the likely delisting in early 2013 due to failure to hold a 2012 annual meeting, and the possible failure to become compliant in SEC reporting in sufficient time to avoid delisting.

INDEPENDENT UK film and home entertainment label Network Distributing is acquiring the rights to 450 British titles from STUDIOCANAL, one of Europe's leading film distribution and production companies. These titles include some of the most significant works from studios including Associated Talking Pictures, Ealing, London Films, British Lion, Associated British Picture Corporation and EMI. The agreement covers home entertainment rights including DVD, Blu-ray, DTO and iTunes. Many of the films will benefit from new transfers. The UK label will start releasing titles from April 2013.

GERMANY's consumer electronics market's turnover is set to decline next year to €12.4 billion from €12.6 billion in 2012. This fall is mainly attributable of falling prices despite high sales volumes, according to the German industry association BITKOM. The number of flat-screen TV sets sold will go down 1.1% to 9.8 million in 2013 and sales of connected TV sets will rise 22% to 6.2 million. The association also expects sales growth of Blu-ray players and Blu-ray recorders, with 23% more devices forecast to be sold than in 2012.

FOUR days before the theatrical release of Warner's $200 million movie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Adventure, the studio won a temporary court order blocking a small production company - Global Asylum Inc. - from releasing earlier a straight-to-DVD film titled Age of the Hobbits. The ruling casts a spotlight on "mockbusters" - knockoff films that are typically distributed as DVDs around the time of the major releases they ape. Such movies have become a cottage industry among a handful of production houses looking to catch the crumbs of the entertainment giants' marketing campaigns.

JAPAN's retail video sector declined again in 2011 after reporting positive growth in 2010 for the first time in five years, according to IHS Screen Digest. Total retail video shipments and revenues fell 9.8% and 2% respectively in 2011 after Blu-ray Disc growth failed to compensate for a decline in DVD sales.

U-TECH MEDIA Corporation has joined the One-Blue Blu-ray Disc product licensing programme as a licensee. U-Tech Media signed a BD-ROM Movie Disc and/or Data Disc License Agreement that grants the company access to important patents essential to the Blu-ray Disc standard from leading licensors, including CyberLink, Dell, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, JVC Kenwood, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Taiyo Yuden and Yamaha. Located in Taiwan, U-Tech Media is dedicated to the research, development and manufacture of pre-recorded optical discs, including CD, DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc.