Stereophile’s Parent Company Declares Bankruptcy – Source Interlink Media, the parent magazine-publishing company of Stereophile and Home Theater print magazines, has filed for bankruptcy with an agreement with lenders which will retire about $1 billion existing debt and $100 million additional liquidity will be provided. The company will be reorganized under a lender-approved plan. Interlink had not reported a profit since 2007. Editor John Atkinson said “It is business as usual and perhaps better than usual as with the parent company’s debt burden significantly reduced, there may well now be increased investment in its properties, like Stereophile.”
Growing Demand for Net-Enabled TVs – According to a new study from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), about half of prospective HDTV buyers said they would likely purchase an Internet-connected set. 48% would use the web-enabled TV to learn more about upcoming shows and identify songs played during a show. 44% would also use it to find out more information about actors featured on-screen. Being able to access the Internet and TV broadcasts together was another benefit mentioned by consumers. The study also found that many adults are already online while watching TV – around 30% surf the Internet while watching TV, and around 60% watch online videos on their computers. “The next frontier is to create a seamless experience bringing the two together,” said an industry spokesman. Many Blu-ray and DVD players are also now featuring Internet connections.
Audio Listening Survey – Another recent CES survey asked consumers if they could only pick one device to use for the day, what would it be? They listed traditional radio as No. 2 after television. The No. 3 position was shared by digital players and computers. During past recessions, radio listening remained steady or increased. (And movie-going usually increased.) Industry authorities are not sure of the fate of HD Radio, but predict that AM-HD is having a hard time, and so are standard AM broadcasters. It is felt that only the most powerful AM stations will be able to hold out against WiMax, FM, HD Radio and satellite radio. The same study reported that projected consumer spending on new devices would go to big-display TVs and home theater, with a growing segment interested in including surround sound and built-in speakers thruout the house.
126th AES Convention in Munich – The Audio Engineering Society will hold their latest convention beginning May 8 in Munich, Germany. Many new products will be shown serving the area of hi-res audio files and copy protection. SecureDDP is a new application for the Mac OS that encrypts existing DDP file sets with 128-bit encryption to be securely delivered over public computer networks. Many audio engineers now use low-cost DSD-native recorders, and there is now a low-cost solution to the problem of converting the DSD masters to PCM. Sonic Studio’s DSD Converter transcoder converts both DSD and LPCM data, preserving all the resolution and nuance of the original DSD recordings. The PCM files may then be used in other applications, rather than limited to SACDs.
