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television

Wal-Mart Smashes Consumer-Electronics

April 24, 2007

Business Week looks at How Wal-Mart’s TV Prices Crushed Rivals

Last “Black Friday,” for its annual post-Thanksgiving sales blitz, Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) decided to slash the price of one of the hottest electronics items for the holidays—the 42-inch flat-panel TV—to $988. The world’s largest retailer had staked similarly audacious positions before, in numerous product categories, as part of its quest to remain U.S. retailing’s “low-price leader.” In turn, Wal-Mart’s move caused a freefall in prices of flat-panel televisions at hundreds of retailers—to the glee of many people who were then able to afford their first big-screen plasma or liquid-crystal-display model.

Now, it is becoming apparent that Wal-Mart’s calculated decision to break the $1,000 barrier for flat-panel TVs triggered a disastrous financial meltdown among some consumer-electronics retailers over the past four months.

The fallout is evident: After closing 70 stores in February, Circuit City Stores (CC) on Mar. 28 laid off 3,400 employees and put its 800 Canadian stores on the block. Tweeter Home Entertainment Group (TWTR), the high-end home entertainment store, is shuttering 49 of its 153 stores and dismissed 650 workers. Dallas-based CompUSA is closing 126 of its 229 stores, and regional retailer Rex Stores (RSC) is boarding up dozens of outlets, as well as selling 94 of its 211 stores. “The tube business and big-screen business just dropped off a cliff,” says Stuart Rose, chief executive officer of Dayton-based Rex Stores. “We expected a dropoff, but nowhere near the decline that we had.” Clearly, these retailers are taking such drastic measures because they don’t see any respite in sight.

I love the lower prices, but I wonder just how much quality we compromise for the sake of lower prices. What about you?

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No ads for 9/11

September 5, 2006

According to Variety.com ABC’s The Path to 9/11 will be ad-fee. The show will also be available on iTunes. Way to go ABC!

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The Path to 9/11

August 29, 2006

ABC mini-series 'The Path to 9/11'

I can’t believe I am just now finding out about ABC’s mini-series “The Path to 9/11.” Thanks to Hugh Hewitt for passing along this tidbit. Harvey Keitel stars as FBI agent John P. O’Neill.

Hugh also points to this article “ABC’s ‘The Path to 9/11′ Is Outstanding” at Human Events Online.

Fortunately, Nowrasteh and the producers of this miniseries have gone out on a limb to honestly and fairly depict how Clinton-era inaction, political correctness, and bureaucratic inefficiency allowed the 9/11 conspiracy to metastasize. Let me say here though that “The Path to 9/11″ is not a partisan miniseries or a “conservative” miniseries. It simply presents the facts in an honest and straightforward manner (the producers have backed up every detail of the miniseries with copious amounts of research and documentation), and the facts are that for seven years, from 1993 to 2000, the Clinton administration bungled the handling of the world-wide terrorist threat. The miniseries is equally honest in depicting the Bush administration. It shows a few points where administration officials, following in the tradition of the Clinton years, do not follow certain clues about the terrorist plot as zealously as they should have. Nonetheless, “The Path to 9/11,” by honestly depicting the unfolding of events over eight years, makes it clear that most of the conspiracy leading up to 9/11 was hatched during the seven years of the Clinton administration, and that since Bush was in power for only eight months when 9/11 occurred, he can hardly be blamed for the entire disaster.

“The Path to 9/11″ does a tremendous job in bringing to life the complex web of international characters and organizations that lay behind the events of that tragic day. ABC has created a miniseries that is truly epic in scope – a richly textured tapestry that weaves together a fascinating array of people, places, organizations and events both here in America and around the world. I was impressed by how vivid every character was, however briefly he or she may have been on the screen – and how quickly, clearly, and economically Nowrasteh and Cunningham depicted complex events. I absolutely loved the on-location work they did, and the great character actors of every nationality that they brought together. Cyrus Nowrasteh’s background as an Iranian-American seems in particular to have given him a special insight into both the Middle-Eastern and American aspects of the story. Director David Cunningham, the son of a missionary, also brings an obvious love of foreign cultures and locales to his direction. The result is an engrossing, atmospheric tale of foreign intrigue. It was fascinating to see the crowded urban slums of Pakistan where the CIA captured Ramzi Youssef, the desert fortresses of the Taliban and Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, the Manila nightclubs where the 9/11 hijackers planned their attacks, the Tanzanian locales where the embassies were blown up, the meetings of the terrorists in Spain, and the various locations across America where the conspiracy comes together.

The Path to 9/11, Part 1 September 10, 7pm – 9pm CDT.

The Path to 9/11, Part 2 September 11, 7pm – 9pm CDT.

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Verizon FiOS TV expands in Plano

August 2, 2006

I just received this press release: Verizon Expands FiOS TV to More Than 57,000 Additional Households in North Texas

Verizon today expanded the availability of its FiOS TV service to more than 57,000 additional households in North Texas, offering them amazingly sharp pictures and sound and a true choice for subscription television and on-demand programming via the company’s all-digital fiber-optic network. Verizon is the only company to offer such a communications network all the way to customers in millions of homes and offices across the country.

The expansion covers 30,000 households in Plano, 9,400 in Carrollton, 5,900 in Irving and 12,000 in Garland, representing the initial service offering in that community. Verizon began taking orders for its fiber-optic TV services in Plano, Carrollton and Irving earlier this year. In the months ahead, Verizon will expand FiOS TV’s availability to more households in North Texas.

The company now has video franchises covering approximately 3 million households in nine states and over 100 franchise areas. As the fiber network is fully deployed in franchise areas, Verizon will provide these consumers with the opportunity to choose FiOS TV.

“Our expansion of FiOS TV in Plano, Carrollton, Irving and Garland provides the opportunity for more citizens to experience the Verizon fiber-technology revolution and enter a world where they have choice, competition and the value that it creates,” said Steve Banta, Verizon’s Southwest region president. “No longer will these customers be at the mercy of a single cable-TV company. They’ll have Verizon FiOS TV.”

Verizon continues to add programming to the FiOS TV channel lineup, creating even more value for customers. Beginning this month, the Golf Channel is a new feature of the Sports Package in Texas and in other states where FiOS TV is available.

Service highlights include:

A lead offer with more than 180 digital video and music channels for $39.95. With an annual savings agreement, customers can choose either $5 off the monthly Movie Package price or waive the monthly standard set-top box fee of $3.95.

Twenty-five high-definition (HD) channels in the North Texas market, with extraordinary clarity and theater-quality sound, including NFL Network.
Verizon plans to add even more HD programming in the coming months.

More than 2,500 On Demand titles available to customers now, increasing to over 3,500 titles in the next several months.

Channels grouped by genres such as entertainment, sports, news, shopping, movies and family, making it easy for audiences to find their favorite programming.

An easy-to-use interactive programming guide that integrates HD programming, On Demand content and the digital video recorder along with broadcast television into a seamless user experience.

A dual-tuner, HD-capable DVR that gives customers the freedom to pause and rewind live TV, record one show while watching another, and fast forward to their favorite part of the program – all without a VCR, tapes or DVDs.

FiOS TV Widgets, a free interactive feature that provides local weather and traffic information.

Information on packages and prices is available at www.verizonfios.com/tv.
Customers also can call 1-800-880-2941 to see if they are able to order FiOS TV.

Response to the television, data and voice offerings has been strong. When Verizon reported its 2006 second-quarter earnings yesterday, it noted that in FiOS TV markets that have been open for sale for at least six months, it has achieved a 10 percent penetration of FiOS TV-eligible households. This compares with a five-year goal in FiOS TV markets of 20 to 25 percent
penetration.

The other 14 Texas communities offering FiOS TV are: Colleyville, Coppell, Flower Mound, north Fort Worth, Grapevine, Highland Village, Keller, Lewisville, Murphy, Rowlett, Sachse, Southlake, Westlake and Wylie. “Our plan is to add more households in Texas in the months ahead while also
managing the available workforce to meet consumer demand,” said Banta. “We
want to deliver FiOS television and high-speed Internet services to consumers as quickly as possible.”

In addition to Texas, FiOS TV is also available to customers in parts of six other states: California, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, Florida and Virginia.

Delivered over Verizon’s fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network, FiOS TV is a formidable competitor to cable and satellite. The Verizon FTTP network, the largest of its kind in the country, is currently under construction in more than half the states where the company offers landline communications services, including more than a dozen of Verizon’s service areas in Texas.
By the end of 2006, as Verizon continues building out its fiber-optic network in North Texas, FiOS TV will be available to nearly 400,000 North Texas households, or 33 percent of Verizon’s landline customers in Texas, with over 1 million potential viewers.

To date, Verizon has deployed over 20 million feet of fiber in the North Texas communities it serves. The network brings the power and capacity of fiber optics directly into people’s homes and has industry-leading quality and reliability. Fiber has the capacity to transmit a wide array of high-definition programming that is so clear and intense it seems to leap from the TV screen. It also delivers Internet download speeds of up to 50 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of up to 5 Mbps as well as high-quality voice services.

Service and Package Details

FiOS TV subscribers can choose from three simple-to-understand service offerings, each with built-in choice and value. They can then choose from packages and premium channels with programming that meets their special interests. Verizon offers three set-top boxes: standard definition for
$3.95 per month; high definition, which includes HD channels, for $9.95 per month; and a dual-tuner, HD-capable digital video recorder for $12.95 per month.

The services include:

FiOS TV Premier, Verizon’s lead offer, delivers more than 180 video and music channels for $39.95 as a stand-alone service or $34.95 a month with Verizon FiOS Internet Service or a qualifying voice plan. This tier includes access to On Demand content and requires a set-top box.
High-definition channels are included in this tier at no extra charge, and customers must have an HD set-top box and an HD-ready TV to view them.

I sure hope my home is part of the 30,000 additional households in Plano!

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