Lions Gate Reveals Xbox Live Video Marketplace Numbers

Lions Gate Entertainment, as part of its earnings report for the fourth quarter, has noted that video on demand services such as Xbox Live's Video Marketplace helped drive digital revenues up 50%, adding that the XBL service has seen 150,000 download rentals of 15 films. Though the company offered no further breakdown of the specific films, company CEO Jon Feltheimer said overall video on demand sales of its Employee of the Month film "exceeded $3 million on a film that grossed about $27 million at the domestic box office." It's expected that this $3 million figure includes other VOD services on cable networks as well as Xbox Live Video Marketplace, but in the most recent Marketplace chart revealed by Microsoft's Larry 'Major Nelson' Hryb, Lions Gate had two movies (Crank and Employee Of The Month) in the top 5. Microsoft has not released detailed information, besides overall growth statements, on precise sales figures of its top-renting Video Marketplace titles, which cost 480 Points ($6) for HD rentals and 320 Points ($4) for SD rentals, so the Lions Gate figures give an interesting hint as to the overall download volume on the service. "Our VOD revenues grew by approximately 50% in fiscal 2007 from the previous year," said Lions Gate's Feltheimer, adding, "our Internet delivered digital revenue grew by a multiple of 7 in fiscal ’07 compared to the prior year, although obviously from a relatively small base." Company president Steve Beeks added, of its distribution deal with Microsoft through the Video Marketplace, that since its February launch on the service, "we have had 150,000 VOD downloads from just 15 films." "This is an extremely promising sign for our entire library and the power of the virtual shelf space of digital delivery," he concluded.