Everybody’s BUSINESS

THE LAST PICTURE SHOW



Commercial banks and investment bankers are about to get into the movie business. Not because they want to rub shoulders with Tom Cruise. The banks’ customers, the nation’s theaters, are going bust, So far this year, no fewer than eight theater chains have declared bankruptcy and another handful see it as the only way out. General Cinema. Car-mike. Edwards, and Dallas-based Silver Cinemas have all filed for protection, while Loews Cine-plex and United Artists have announced that the\ need more time to meet current financial obligations. All have been undone by the same problems-overexpansion coupled with Hollywood’s lack of summer blockbusters.

Megascreen cinema boxes, each with 17 to 30 screens. Dolby Digital and THX surround sound, and stadium seating, are great attractions but expensive to build. As the multiplexes proliferated, they did so at the expense of neighborhood theaters. Exhibitors had no idea that people would drive out of their way for a greater selection, bypassing the North Park I s and 2s of the world. Ironically, the smaller theaters were owned by the same chains, meaning that in many cases, the companies were putting themselves out of business.

The fact that there are now probably 10.000 more screens in the lower 48 than necessary was exacerbated by this summer’s pitiful movie lineup, most of which fell flatter than Joe Pis-capo’s career. The studios decided thai they’d hang on to worthy offerings until the holidays, rather than compete against the Olympics, die World Series, and the election. The result: Six months worth of fluff that finally pushed overleveraged cinema companies over the brink.

So close up the old ones you say? Not so fast. Leases are nearly impossible to break and the only thing worse than a near-empty theater is a completely empty theater that still requires rem. The model for work out probably looks like banking in Texas in the ’80s. Theaters will close, names will change, and they’ll all get new owners. Meanwhile, hang on to your cable.

JERRY SPRINGER ON YOUR CELL PHONE?



Piano-based Microtune (Nasdaq: TUNE) is going to make it possible to get TV anywhere you like–on your wrist, on your computer, even on your cell phone or Palm Pilot. Microtune makes tuners-those clunky things on TVs that allow you to change channels. But these tuners are as small and flat as a penny, and therein lies their future. Stick an extra tuner in your TV and you’ll get a picture -in-picture, without connecting your VCR. Stick an extra tuner or two in your cable box and you’ll finally be able to tape one program while watching another. Since size matters, slick one tuner in your cell phone or hand-held computer and you can pick up cable programs over the airways. CEO Doug Bartek thinks that the uses are almost endless. That’s the argument he has used to attract some pretty well-heeled investors, including Tom Hicks and international financier George Soros.

What does all this mean? It means Dr. Laura will follow you wherever you go.



RANDOM THOUGHTSOH THE PASSING OF Y2K…

…Believe it or not. positive effects of this spring and fall’s stock market mini-crashes were felt ai homes across the country. Instead of racing home and trading online, yards got mowed, family dinners came back in vogue, and books got read, Funny how it’s more fun to trade stocks when they’re going up instead of acting like lawn darts.

…Spring Creek Barbecue has come up with a culinary marriage of vast proportions. First, they smoke their ribs. Then they grill them. Try it. This is a more important breakthrough than Krispy Kreme adding the “Niagara Falls” of glaze on their donuts.

…At this fall’s “Managing Your Money” conference held in Dallas, futurist Harry Dent told a bemused audience that potato chip consumption will peak in 2012. The author of The Roaring 2000s, Dent studies trends of the baby boom generation. Here’s how he gets to the 2012 chip feast:

First, Dent reasons thai the peak year for baby boom births was in 1971. Those boomers tended to get married at the age of 25. wait two years, then have children. In 2012. the bulk of boomers will have 14-year-old children- the age at which individual potato chip consumption hits its apex.

Maybe this is interesting only to the folks at Frito-Lay, but at least you’ve been warned.

STATS



$39 million

Amount of venture capital funds Invested in DRV companies in 1Q1999

$473 million

Amount of venture capital funds invested in DFW companies in 1Q2000

52

Number of DFW companies that received venture capital funds in 1Q2000

$36 billion

Amount of venture capital funds invested in U.S. companies in 1999

4,006

Number of U.S. companies that received venture capital funds in 1999

11

Number of VC firms worldwide focused on projects in the Telecom Corridor as a result of their partnering with Richardson-based STARTech

$3 billion

Amount of funds currentlyunder management by the above 11 firms

$4 million

Amount of funds pooled by trie above 11 firms to provide seed funding to STARTech companies

SOURCE: www.richardsonchamber.org