DEG Establishes Preparatory Committee For Japan Branch

The Trade Group Anticipates Launching Japanese Arm in 2008 [The following is a release from the Digital Entertainment Group]

January 7, 2008

DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group held its annual reception during the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) where the Hollywood-based group made key trade announcements. One of those announcements was the establishment of a DEG satellite group to create a Working Committee based in Tokyo. In Japan, HDTV adoption has dramatically increased with one third of households now able to watch HDTV programming. Sales of high-definition recorders have exceeded ninety percent penetration and next-generation optical recorder has topped twenty percent of those. HD packaged media is also growing with sales of HD software titles sharply rising. In response, the DEG launched the preparatory committee for establishing a DEG Working Committee in Japan to offer a place for Japanese video content providers and hardware manufacturers to discuss their future collaboration and further accelerate both content and hardware businesses in Japan. Earlier this year, the DEG announced the formation of a working association with the DEG Europe that allows the two trade alliances a wealth of knowledge and assets shared across continents. With this alliance between the European and the North American groups, the two groups are in a position to provide useful tools that inform the consumer how to maximize the high-definition experience. This relationship has demonstrated that working together the groups can fully promote and communicate the benefits of the new high definition products. The DEG believes the same benefits can be achieved with a DEG Working Committee in Japan. In its eleventh year, the DEG is dedicated to advancing awareness and adoption of DVD and emerging technologies, including high definition entertainment. Working with its 50+ member companies, the DEG creates programs and initiatives that encourage adoption of home entertainment products. The DEG is one of the leading sources of information on sales data for DVD and HD media. The group also has produced a handful of instructional collateral materials for use at retail. The US-based trade association is the only group of its kind that offers a collaboration among content providers and hardware manufacturers to establish marketing initiatives to drive adoption. “The DEG has seen that working together, we can advance adoption and awareness of entertainment products by creating programs and initiatives for the trade,” said Amy Jo Smith, Executive Director, DEG. “As we hope to transition consumers everywhere to a world of high definition, we are delighted to create a dialogue with our counterparts in Japan to share ideas and leverage our collective expertise across borders.”

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