Big Media Companies Want Back in the Game

BIG MEDIA COMPANIES WANT BACK IN THE GAME
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Merissa Marr merissa.marr@wsj.com and Nick Wingfield]
With renewed zeal, traditional media companies have begun building their own videogame businesses again. For years, they outsourced development of games based on their television shows and movies in licensing deals with big games publishers. Now, the media companies want a bigger piece of the fast-expanding games business for themselves. They see the videogame business as an opportunity for significant growth, especially compared to their more mature, traditional businesses such as television and movies. Box office revenue inched 4.0% higher last year, in large part because of ticket price increases, while home-video sales declined 3.2%, according to Adams Media Research. In contrast, videogames are the fastest growing sector of entertainment, with sales in the U.S. rising 34% last year to $8.64 billion, according to NPD Group Inc.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120338109294075671.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace
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