The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) will use Eutelsat capacity to transmit the Athens Olympic Games this summer, EBU said. EBU will use the capacity starting Aug. 2 for testing, then from Aug. 11-29 for preliminary games, the opening ceremony and all Olympic events, the EBU said. The new agreement -- terms not announced -- includes 4 wideband transponders total for 306 MHz of Ku-band capacity on the Atlantic Bird 3, e-Bird and W3A satellites. EBU will also use the capacity Sept. 17-28 for the Paralympic Games in Athens, it said. EBU will provide private direct point-to- point circuits from its teleport to the temporary hq of different TV channels in Athens, in addition to 800 hours of live event coverage, EBU said.

The Journal of Commerce reports that non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOCCs) have much to gain and lose in the outcome of Norfolk Southern Railway vs. Kirby which will be heard by the Supreme Court this fall. On the one hand, NVOCCs could win affirmation of their status as ocean carriers, not agents of shippers. On the other, the court's decision could open the door for shippers who have tendered cargo to an NVOCC to only be bound by the terms of the NVOCC's bill of lading, and therefore be free to collect full damages from any party in the supply chain. (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/29/04 news, (Ref:04032999 for earlier summary.)(JoC, dated March 22-28, 2004, www.joc.com )

Nintendo of America (NOA) told an analyst briefing in N.Y.C. late last week it was bullish on the Game Boy Advance (GBA) Wireless Adapter. It said the adapter, which allows players to compete head-to-head without the use of cords, will be packaged with the Sept. releases of the games Pokemon Fire Red and Pokemon Leaf Green in the U.S. NOA said “more than 2 million copies” of those titles, including the adapter, were sold in Japan since they shipped at the end of Jan. The company said Mario Golf: Advance Tour, to ship for GBA June 28, will also make use of the adapter, which will be sold separately. NOA also noted that GBA Video cartridges -- each containing 2 cartoons that can be played on the handheld game systems -- will start shipping in June. Of the upcoming Classic Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Series games slated to ship June 7 for GBA in the U.S. (CED March 30 p9), NOA said sales have been strong in Japan. It said “more than 900,000 of these classic games sold in 4 weeks” there. It said other upcoming GBA titles in the U.S. include Mario vs. Donkey Kong (May 24), Hamtaro 4 (July), F-Zero 2 (Sept.) and Mario Pinball, Donkey Kong Country 2, Mario Tennis, a new Kirby game and a handheld Mario Party title (4th quarter). Upcoming GameCube titles, meanwhile, include WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$ (April 5), Custom Robo (May 10), The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (June 7), Pikmin 2 (Aug.), Donkey Konga (Sept.) and Paper Mario 2, Geist, Metroid Prime 2, Star Fox 2, Mario Tennis and Mario Party 6 (Q4). The company also plans to ship a higher-capacity 1019 Memory Card for GameCube later this year. Separately, NOA’s parent company revised its preliminary financial estimates late last week in Japan. Nintendo said it now expected to report that full fiscal year consolidated sales and operating profits will “increase marginally over the previous year.” But it warned that there will be “a substantial drop in net profits due mainly to paper losses stemming from adverse currency exchange rates.” For the year ended March 31, it said about ?68 billion “was absorbed as foreign exchange loss due in large part to the currency translation of assets held in U.S. and European accounts” (about $6 billion at of the end of the fiscal year). Nintendo said it now expected to post ?33 billion profit for the year vs. the ?54 billion estimate it had made in Jan. But the company said it still expected ?510 billion sales. The results would compare to the ?67.27 billion profit on ?504.13 billion in sales that it reported for the year ended March 31, 2003. Nintendo said that “although full fiscal year details and forecasts for the following year won’t be released until late May,” it “does foresee projected increases for both sales and operating profits for the year beginning April 1, 2004.”

Although Disney sees huge advantages in commercializing the next-generation optical disc, the company isn’t in a rush for HD- DVD or Blu-ray to arrive, CEO Michael Eisner told a Credit Suisse First Boston analyst meeting in L.A. last week.

Although PVRs are viewed as “a threat” to broadcasters and advertisers, they should spur more TV viewing, Disney COO Robert Iger told a Credit Suisse First Boston analyst meeting in L.A. last week. He said Disney had “done some preliminary research” on how PVRs impacted advertising. The “good news,” he said, was that “we all seem to be in this together” and advertisers and broadcasters seemed to be on the same page. He said “if the PVR may put advertising in its traditional form in peril, the advertisers realize that they need to figure out a solution -- just as those that are selling the time on their networks need to figure out a solution.” Iger predicted that we're “going to see dramatic growth in PVRs,” noting he had seen “figures as high as roughly 25 billion installed PVRs in some form or another by the end of 2006.” That meant PVRs were “likely to change the way people access television” and were “going to require much greater cooperation and dialog with advertisers to figure out how [advertising] can be effectively embedded in TV,” he said. Disney believes merely boosting the number of product placements in TV shows won’t make up for the loss of traditional commercials and “most advertisers seem to agree,” Iger said. Disney CEO Michael Eisner said technology such as PVRs “enhances content and people figure out how to use that technology to enhance entertainment in some way.” PVRs, he said, weren’t just for skipping ads. The company noted that viewers like to watch certain ads and suggested that one way to encourage viewers to watch them was for advertisers to make them as entertaining as the typical Super Bowl commercial. Discussing obstacles that Disney’s ABC and other TV networks face competing with other entertainment now, Iger said “we've seen a dramatic increase in time spent” among those who play videogames.

Take-Two Interactive’s Mafia for PS2 was again the #1-rented videogame in the U.S., Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended March 28 showed Thurs. Rentrak said the game, in its 9th week available, earned an additional $294,129, for $2.63 million to date. But Electronic Arts (EA) again dominated the chart among publishers, with 4 titles in the top 10, led by Bond 007: Everything or Nothing for PS2 at #3 in its 6th week (down one notch from a week ago). It earned $266,546 in the week, $1.77 million to date. EA’s other 3 top 10 games were Need for Speed: Underground for PS2 at #4 again in its 19th week ($218,832 in the week, $6.53 million to date), NFL Street for PS2 at #5 again (11th week, $192,890, $2.24 million to date), the Xbox version of the Bond game at #10 (down 3 in its 6th week, $121,911, $872,937 to date). Activision and Ubisoft each had 2 top 10 titles. Activision’s were once again True Crime: Streets of L.A. for PS2 at #7 in its 21st week (down one, $166,335, $5.70 million to date) and Tony Hawk’s Underground for PS2 at #9 in its 22nd week (down one, $129,657, $5.62 million to date). Ubisoft’s were Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm for PS2 at #6 in its 2nd week (up 42, $174,509, $233,920 to date) and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow for Xbox at #8 in its first full week ($140,670). Rounding out the top 10 was Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden for Xbox at #2 in its 4th week (up one, $278,059, $1.11 million to date).

In its first full week available, the #1-rented DVD in the U.S. was Warner’s Gothika, Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended March 28 showed. Rentrak said the title made $6.99 million on DVD in the week, for $7.06 million to date. The title was also #1 in combined DVD and VHS sales, earning $9.53 million in the week, $9.62 million to date. Two others -- both from Universal -- made the top 10 their first week: The Rundown at #2 and Honey at #3. Rentrak said The Rundown earned $6.70 million on DVD for $6.80 million to date and, on DVD and VHS, $8.56 million in the week, $8.69 million to date. Honey earned $3.36 million in the week on DVD, $3.72 million to date and, on DVD and VHS, $4.89 million in the week and $4.95 million to date.

The 9th U.S. Court of Appeals, San Francisco, affirmed a decision forcing Televisa into arbitration with DirecTV Latin America (DTVLA). At issue is a set of 3 contracts between DTVLA and Televisa that allowed Televisa to telecast some 2002 World Cup soccer matches. The court said the agreement directed Televisa to black out games DTVLA was broadcasting. DTVLA accused Televisa of failing to comply with the blackout provision and asked the U.S. Dist. Court, L.A., to compel arbitration. Televisa protested, the court said, arguing one agreement -- the letter of intent -- contained the blackout provision and a 2nd -- the sublicense agreement) -- introduced the arbitration clause, so DTVLA couldn’t use the 2nd agreement to cover the first. The district court granted DTVLA’s motion and denied a motion by Televisa for a preliminary injunction staying arbitration. The appeals court said because the sublicense agreement was more formal and more comprehensive, covering “numerous subjects other than the blackout requirement… [t]he sublicense agreement expressly incorporates the letter agreement and Televisa’s blackout obligations.” On Televisa’s appeal of the denial of its preliminary injunction request, the court affirmed the lower court’s decision: “Televisa cannot establish a likelihood of success on or any serious questions going to the merits of its claim.”

DVD-backup software developer 321 Studios filed appeals in 2 federal courts Thurs. against preliminary rulings that banned sale of its products. The company contends the orders violated its free speech rights and customers’ fair use prerogatives. 321 also claims a provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) used to block the sale of its software -- the clause that prohibits circumvention of copy protection mechanisms -- is unconstitutional. The maker of the DVD X Copy family of DVD cloning applications requested emergency stays of the rulings.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the final results of its changed circumstances reviews of the countervailing (CV) duty orders on certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products and cut-to-length carbon steel plate products from Germany. As a result, the ITA is revoking these CV duty orders for entries of subject merchandise with a time of entry on or after April 1, 2004.