A Brave New Media World...

Although it predates my time, I still recall my father’s stories of when Television launched in the early 1950’s, and replaced radio as the medium for mass entertainment.  This sea-wave of change created great turmoil in the advertising worlds, but within the entertainment industries, the Radio Giants quickly adapted to become the Television Giants (ABC, CBS, NBC).  And while the transition from Black & White to COLOR TV was seismic in the eyes of consumers, again, the existing “major media players” remained the powerhouses controlling TV entertainment and the lion’s share of media revenues.

It wasn’t until the 1980’s – when cable TV began to emerge – that new media giants were born.  Then, just a few years later, the emerging home video industry spawned an explosion of new media companies… leading to today’s transformative video-on-demand platform that is finally enabling indie studios to compete one-on-one with 100-year old media giants.  VODwiz and the associated VODwiz IPTV Channel are the Hannover House windows directly to hundreds-of-millions of consumers… direct delivery to consumers of our movies (and titles from many other suppliers), with no manufacturing costs, no shipping, no middle-man fees and no time-delays for payment.  Watch “what you want, when you want it” is no longer a slogan, but a reality that VODwiz is making possible.

So what’s next?  For Hannover House (and our technology partner NanoTech Entertainment), we think that “4k TV” is the next transformative media platform… a high definition picture so clear and detailed that it makes today’s HD screens feel like a Black-and-White relic.  If you haven’t had a chance to see a 4K image, you’ll have to accept our observation that most people’s jaws literally drop open in awe!

Parallel paths will be pursued for the launch of 4k in America.  An effort to assemble and create 4k programming needs to occur hand-in-hand with the retail placement of 4k players and screens.  Hannover House is already taking active steps on both fronts – with top tier titles set for 4k remastering and VODwiz studio partners being pursued for additional 4k titles (on the programming front), with hardware and package configurations through NanoTech set for mass merchandiser presentations and 2013 retail availability.  It’s like the launch of the Sony Walkman, on mega-High-Def-steroids.  Very exciting, very cutting-edge, and HHSE is well ahead of competitors on this pioneering front.

On other matters, some shareholders have asked for more details on the eBook “BookTV” format launch – which deserves a lengthy blog on its own.  But for brevity, we’ll pose a hypothetical question: 

Do you think a 19-year-old college student is going to prefer to pay $99 for the purchase of a seven-pound textbook to lug around all semester – or $19.95 for the same “information” delivered digitally to their iPad or mobile device?  What if that digital version also contained active links to reference websites, video clips and expert demonstrations?  Which is the better, more thorough, more convenient (and less expensive) way to deliver textbooks or entertainment books (for that matter)? 

The textbook industry in America is a $10-billion annual market… the HHSE / NTEK Book-TV format makes textbooks better and less costly… both indicators of a terrific opportunity.  Sure, book wholesalers and even campus book stores will be threatened by this improvement in textbook delivery, but it’s a brave new media world.  Adapt and thrive – or ignore the coming wave and perish.  HHSE is very excited about this moment in time, and our position and direction in the digital-entertainment and digital-information age.

—ERIC PARKINSON, C.E.O. Hannover House