Warner Home Video has notified replication company Cinram that it has exercised an option to terminate its service agreements on July 31, 2010. The notice covers all Cinram entities globally and will directly impact operations in North America, Mexico, UK, France, Germany and Spain. This is a serious blow for Cinram: in 2009, WHV revenues represented approximately 28% of the total consolidated revenues of the replication company.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Cinram shares fell 62% on the Toronto stock exchange today.
Update
Technicolor and Warner Bros. have
announced that they have entered into a "long term contract" covering replication and distribution services for DVD and Blu-ray discs, which is expected to start generating material revenue in third quarter 2010.