LAS VEGAS —
The Digital Entertainment
Group (DEG) presented Best
Buy, Nebraska Furniture Mart and
Amazon.com with Retailer of the Year
Awards at its 14th annual International
CES reception.
The industry trade group, comprised
of content providers and CE manufacturers,
established the awards to recognize
excellence in promoting and merchandising
new digital entertainment
products and Blu-ray Disc titles during
the past year.
Ron Sanders, president of DEG and
Warner Home Video, kicked off the festivities
by announcing that Hollywood
would release 100 3D Blu-ray Disc titles
in 2011, giving the 3D category a
much-welcomed boost.
Best Buy reclaimed the National
Retailer of the Year award within the
hardware category for its “visionary approaches
to displays and merchandising
and support of emerging technologies,”
DEG said.
Nebraska Furniture Mart copped
Regional Retailer of the Year honors in
hardware for its support of complete
lines of all hardware categories and demonstrations of new technologies.
The award for Retailer of the Year
for Software went to Amazon.com.
DEG said its membership overwhelmingly
voted for the online retailer for
its innovative approach to driving Bluray
3D, as well as creative new consumer
promotions behind EST, VOD
and MOD.
Separately, Panasonic and Sony
Electronics received Emiel N. Petrone
Digital Innovation Awards, named in
memory of DEG’s founding chairman,
in the sight, source and sound categories.
The latter went to Sony Electronics
for its STR-DA5600ES 7.1 channel
network multi-room A/V receiver, while
Panasonic took home respective sight
and sound awards for its 50-inch TCP50VT25
Viera 3D 1080p plasma TV
and DMP-BDT100 FullHD 3D Blu-ray
Disc player.
