Europe's online source of news, data & analysis for professionals involved in packaged media and new delivery technologies

News in Brief


A TEAM from the Center for Micro-Photonics at Swinburne University in Australia has developed a technique that can increase a DVD's storage capacity from that standard 4.7GB up to 1PB (1,000TB). The technique doesn't change the size or shape of the disc, but instead changes the laser used to read the disc's data. First, a laser of a standard shapeis used to write data. Then, a doughnut-shaped laser is placed around the initial laser in order to limit the abilities of the first beam. This effectively makes the standard laser?s diameter smaller, and it could then write smaller bits - roughly one-ten-thousandth the size of a human hair.

iROKO Partners, Africa's largest source of Nigerian entertainment with its platforms iROKOtv and iROKING, announces a major strategic development via its entry into the South African DVD market and the launch of 10,000 new Nigerian movie DVDs. Nigeria's movie industry, colloquially known as 'Nollywood' is the second largest film industry in the world, producing around 2,000 movies a year. Ten of iROKOtv's most popular Nollywood films are now available on DVDs at a cost of R30 (€2.30). "Until Africa comes online, DVDs will continue to be the primary platform to consume content, which is why iROKOtv has now entered the DVD market," the company said.

ACCORDING to its latest Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2013-2017, PwC expects the UK entertainment and media (E&M) market to grow by 4% compounded annually from 2013 - 2017 to a value of £65.5 billion in 2017. In 2012, the UK had the second largest E&M market in Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) markets at £54bn, behind Germany, and it will maintain this position to 2017. The filmed-entertainment sector in the UK will be worth £4.3bn by 2017, up from £3.8bn in 2012, a CAGR of 2.7%. The UK is the third-biggest sector for movies and television in the world.

DCD PUBLISHING DVD has acquired the UK DVD rights for award-winning popular Children's' series and dinosaur brand Dino Dan from Breakthrough Entertainment. Launched in 2010, CGI/live action series is now playing across 90 countries. Dino Dan has been licensed for DVD and achieved strong sales across many territories including the US, Canada, Australia, with US sales exceeding $1 million revenue at retail in 2012. 250,000 DVDs have sold in less than 7 months in the US market alone.