Rounding Up HD News: Best Buy’s Blu Benefit, Clearly Vegas

By Danny King

Best Buy Shares May Rise on Blu-ray, Digital Switch
Shares of U.S. electronics retail leader Best Buy may rise as Sony’s Blu-ray victory in the DVD format war is likely to boost sales of high-definition players while next year’s switch to digital broadcasts will increase television sales, Barron’s reports. Best Buy stock has dropped about 20% since early December on investor concerns about the softening economy, the magazine says.

Live From Vegas: Champagne Wishes in HD
Plans for Las Vegas’ first full-time high-definition production studio, whose investors include ex-“Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” host Robin Leach, have been approved. VegasHD will build its first studio on the patio of Planet Hollywood Resort-Casino’s Trader Vic’s restaurant, which faces the Las Vegas Strip.

Netflix Gauges Interest in Streaming Over Xbox, Skipping the Mailbox
Netflix polled subscribers about their interest in using Microsoft’s Xbox 360 games console to stream movies to their televisions, Reuters reports, citing Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey. Mr. Swasey said the company wants to deliver movies to customers’ TVs “in as many ways as possible,” though he declined to say if a Microsoft-Netflix agreement was imminent, the wire service said.

DirecTV Will Play ‘Extra Innings,’ Dish Won’t
U.S. satellite television leader DirecTV will offer Major League Baseball’s “Extra Innings” package this year, including as many as 40 high-definition games, for $229, Web site TVPredictions.com reports. Competitor Dish won’t carry the package, the Web site said, while cable TV leader Comcast will offer standard-definition games, but no HD games.

Voom Shows Feature Van Peebles Going Green, Australian Adventurer Going Solo
Rainbow Media’s Voom HD is developing three series, including a show featuring actor-director Mario Van Peebles’ attempt to renovate his home in an environmentally friendly manner, a show about an adventurer trekking across his native Australia and a show featuring a pack of urban monkeys in Jaipur, India. The Van Peebles series will debut next year; the other two will begin airing in October.