Warner Bros. adds digital wing

Bob Tourtellotte

LOS ANGELES: Warner Bros. film studio on Tuesday reorganized its home video unit into a broad group aimed at new markets that use the Internet, wireless and other digital technologies to send movies and TV shows to consumers.

The unit, called the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, will be run by studio veteran Kevin Tsujihara and its creation sends a signal that Hollywood's major content producers see an increasing need to adapt current products and create new ones for home networks, laptop computers and portable players.

"We were organized based on very traditional windows that had been in place for 20 years," Tsujihara told Reuters.

"Consumers are saying they want more convenience and more portability and we needed to be responsive to that."

Warner Bros. has formed a unit called Warner Bros. Digital Distribution to meet the demands of the emerging marketplace and it named Ron Sanders president of Warner Home Video, replacing Jim Cardwell who will remain at the company as a consultant. Warner Bros. is part of Time Warner Inc.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hollywood's major studios shied away from making films and TV shows available for distribution via the Internet, fearing piracy and the cannibalization of sales from the booming DVD market.

Studios, producers and talent agents also grappled with the rights of directors, writers, actors and others who would receive royalties and fees from products distributed using the Internet.

While issues still remain, software to protect digital video content and digital rights management have improved. More importantly, there are signs DVD sales growth is slowing and Hollywood needs a new market to help boost revenues.

Tsujihara said Warner's plans had been in the works long before Apple Computer Inc. unveiled its new video iPod handheld player two weeks ago.

The Walt Disney Co.'s ABC television network has made episodes of hit shows "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" available for the video iPod for $1.99 each and that has raised questions about what types of shows may be watchable for small players and whether the price was profitable.

Warner Bros. declined to answer questions arising from the Disney/iPod announcement.

But Tsujihara did say the studio believes that, not only will old content need to be repackaged for new ways of watching, but completely new programs will likely be created, too.