Pioneer Entertainment To Discontinue LaserDisc Releases
Pioneer has closed a major chapter in its history book with the announcement that its U.S. software arm, Pioneer Entertainment, has discontinued marketing titles on LaserDisc. The distributor will now offer pre-recorded programming only in the DVD and VHS formats. Closeouts on Pioneerís remaining LaserDisc inventory are selling for up to 85 percent off and are may be ordered directly at www.pioneerelectronics.com. Pioneer reports that their ongoing DVD and VHS business now accounts for more than 90 percent of its software business, and with more than 20 new DVD and VHS titles being introduced each month, it has totally replaced its LaserDisc business. This development leaves Image Entertainment as the only remaining source for LaserDiscs, and indications are Image too may soon discontinue the fading format in favor of focusing on its growing DVD business. Pioneer, which almost single-handedly kept the LaserDisc format going over the past two decades, continues to support LaserDisc in the United States through the sale of DVD/LD combination players and custom disc replication for other software distributors and for the education market. Report Sourced From TWICE See Official Press Release Below: Pioneer Shift To DVD And VHS Format Complete LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 6, 1999--Pioneer Entertainment has announced completion of its transition into a fully integrated home-entertainment company that supplies unique home-video product in the DVD and VHS formats. The announcement was made Tuesday by Pioneer Entertainment's President, James Kobayashi. A subsidiary of giant parent company Pioneer Corp., Pioneer Entertainment has, after years of being the pre-eminent LaserDisc supplier, shifted focus to DVD and VHS, which now accounts for more than 90 percent of the company's software business, replacing all of its LaserDisc business. ""Company sales are up 50 percent from 1998,"" noted Vice President of Sales and Marketing Rick Buehler, ""and we expect them to be stronger in the year 2000."" With more than 20 new titles on VHS and DVD being offered each month, the transition to the new formats has been completed. ""We have positioned ourselves at the forefront by aggressively acquiring and distributing an extraordinary number of eclectic titles,"" added Jim McGowan, Senior Vice President, Business Development. ""We have completed a dramatic turnaround here at Pioneer Entertainment; the company has become one of the leading independent companies in the home video business. Because we only license titles, we are more flexible and get more titles into the distribution pipeline faster."" With the explosion of Japanese animation in the United States, Pioneer has established a strong foothold with the animated family series ""Pokemon."" In conjunction with its partner Viz Video, ""Pokemon"" was launched in late 1998. The title has shipped more than 2 million units in the United States alone and is headed for a tremendous holiday season. Other animated family titles the company offers are the current ""Dragonball Z,"" which is rated the No. 1 show on the Cartoon Network. Coming soon will be a trilogy of features from ""Sailor Moon,"" also a Cartoon Network top performer, and Pioneer's first preschool property, ""Miffy,"" a popular book property that shipped more than 80 million books worldwide. Pioneer also offers other animation under the Anime banner, including the popular and much-written-about Japanese animation property ""Gundam,"" which was acquired through its exclusive distribution deal with Bandai Entertainment. In a related move, Pioneer Entertainment and Platinum Entertainment plan to jointly develop and create ""Animetronic,"" a series of hypersurrealistic, high-tech, multiple-format music and video releases that combine Japanese animation with original electronic music compositions. In addition, Pioneer distributes other titles on DVD and VHS format in various categories, including comprehensive and rare live music-concert-DVD collections by Queen: ""We Will Rock You"" and David Bowie, among many others. ""Pioneer has established itself as the third-largest music DVD distributor, behind only Warner and Sony, with such titles as Queen, The Doors and David Bowie leading the way,"" added Buehler. ""In addition, theatrical fare will be offered for rental and sell-through as well as unique special-interest titles such as ""Judy Garland"" (the complete 1963/64 TV series), ""The Blue Angels: Rolling in the Sky"" and ""Altius: For the Extreme Sports Fanatic!'"" Pioneer Entertainment (USA) L.P. is a full-service producer and distributor of entertainment software including film, music and animation on VHS, DVD and LaserDisc. Pioneer Entertainment is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pioneer Corp. and has headquarters in Long Beach. Copyright 1999, Business Wire