Word: videodiscs
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...however, faces stiff competition in the new market. One rival videodisc system has been on the market since December 1978, and a third one is due out around Christmas. Each product is backed by one or more major electronics companies, and the systems are incompatible: the discs of one will not play on any system but its own. Moreover, all the videodiscs will be battling for scarce consumer dollars against an ever increasing array of home-entertainment products that ranges from giant-screen home projection devices and videotape recorders to television games and home computers...
Studio executives may not be hurt as badly as theater owners; the studios can count on ancillary profitmakers: foreign sales, network and local TV, videocassette deals and, increasingly, cable TV outlets as well. But all those may decline during a weak economy, James says, and sales to the new videodisc systems may not be important for at least a decade. So put the Mercedes in the garage, unplug the hot tub-and get out the handkerchiefs...
...license, CBS will manufacture discs to be played on RCA machines. This will give CBS, the nation's largest record maker, entry into the business. RCA will win not only royalty fees but also the support of CBS, which spent months looking at the systems of both videodisc competitors. Now CBS's library of programs will be available to owners of RCA machines...
...addition, RCA has signed licensing agreements with nearly 20 Japanese and European companies, including Plessey in Britain and Matsushita in Japan. Of course, Magnavox, a subsidiary of North American Philips, has not been idle. Sony has a license to use Magnavox's videodisc technology, and the U.S. company also has a longstanding deal with MCA, the parent of Universal Pictures, to make its discs...
...coast to coast by early 1981. RCA has not sold a single unit yet, but is aiming for nationwide launch at about the same time. The stakes will be high. Every one of the 72 million U.S. homes that now have TV sets is a potential customer for a videodisc system. On an estimated 30% to 50% penetration of that market by the end of the decade, RCA projects industry annual sales of 5 million to 6 million players and 200 to 250 million discs. Potential total revenues: more than $7.5 billion a year...