Warner Goes Blu

Warner Bros to back Blu-ray DVD format exclusively

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc's (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Warner Bros studio on Friday said it would exclusively release high-definition DVDs in Sony Corp's (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) Blu-ray format, dealing a big blow to Toshiba Corp's (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) rival HD DVD technology.

Warner Bros, Hollywood's biggest seller of DVDs, representing about 18 to 20 percent of sales in the United States, was one of the few studios that backed both formats.

All sides of the format war had agreed it was confusing to consumers and a stumbling block for a potential multibillion-dollar industry.

Total DVD unit sales fell 4.5 percent in 2007, the first major year-over-year decline since the disc format debuted in 1997, according to Adams Media Research. Sales fell 4.8 percent to $15.7 billion.

"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers," Warner Bros Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Meyer said in a statement.

News Corp's (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Co (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), and Lionsgate (LGF.N: Quote, Profile, Research) are among studios backing the Blu-ray format. Viacom Inc's (VIAb.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Paramount studios and General Electric's (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) NBC Universal release movies in HD DVD format.

Warner said it would continue releasing in the HD DVD format until the end of May, although those releases would follow the standard DVD and Blu-ray releases.

(Reporting by Kenneth Li in New York and Bob Tourtellotte and Peter Henderson in Los Angeles; Editing by Brian Moss)

Source: Reuters

Obviously nothing definitive, but this is a huge blow to HD DVD. With Blu-Ray's performance, and how important Warner is, I think it's safe to say that we're at least one step closer to declaring a victor in this format war.

And I guess it should be noted that the HD DVD group canceled their CES press conference shortly after this was announced.

Either way, I'm pretty much sold on Blu-Ray because of this. Since I just got an HDTV I've been thinking about getting an HD DVD player, so I think I'll pick up a PS3 sometime soon. Not a lot of games that interest me just yet, but there will be, and it's $100 cheaper than the cheapest Blu-Ray players in stores near me. Two things for the price of one! Reminds me of how the PS2 was my first DVD player all over again.

Originally Posted by Slime

And I guess it should be noted that the HD DVD group canceled their CES press conference shortly after this was announced.

Because Warner Bros. was going to keynote it. L. O. L.

But I'm glad the format war is almost over. And that I have the winning format, which I guess I committed to at Christmas.

This is fantastic news, in every single way.

So, now we only have to wait 5 years for Blu-ray players to become affordable by the plebeians.

Maybe longer, really, since without a format war much of the incentive to reduce price is gone.

warner bros. still exists, huh? well, this is gonna suck

Blu-ray gives a 1-2 punch thanks to Disney!

Snap.

This image really illustrates the situation:



I think it's safe to say that in the next little while all the stores will do their best to get rid of the HD-DVDs from the other studios, and in about a year all we'll see are Paramount and Universal DVDs while everything else ends up in the bargain bin. Then, when their contracts are up, everything will be Blu-Ray. I just don't see HD-DVD surviving this.

Good. It'll give my PS3 more bang for its buck. That is, when I buy one.

The Sony mafia got to them!

First of all, that chart is the first time I've ever heard of Sony Pictures before. Is there a field that Sony haven't gotten themselves into yet? They're EVERYWHERE.

Blu-ray is a funny thing. I used to be soo against HD because I couldn't understand the hype about it. When I bought my PS3 a friend of mine gave me a couple of Blu-rays to watch and I was very unimpressed - until I went back to watching movies on a normal DVD and *then* realised the difference.

So yes, now I'm a convert. XDD

Still don't own any for myself though, there'll still too expensive and I can't justify those prices to myself. This is the first time that the evil empire Disney have went to Blu-ray. Stupid question, but how much can high definition do for a cartoon?

Float Disney. They forced me to say that...

^ Meh. Pixar comes into mind. But Disney doesn't just make cartoons.

Originally Posted by Dark Link

^ Meh. Pixar comes into mind. But Disney doesn't just make cartoons.

Ack, you're right. Sorry that was my mistake.

I'd still be interested to know what animation looks like in HD though. Has anybody seen the Simpsons movie on Blu-ray?

Originally Posted by Vega

First of all, that chart is the first time I've ever heard of Sony Pictures before. Is there a field that Sony haven't gotten themselves into yet? They're EVERYWHERE.

Yeah. They're pretty big. You probably just never thought who made the movies. They did Spiderman, for example.

Originally Posted by Vega

Still don't own any for myself though, there'll still too expensive and I can't justify those prices to myself. This is the first time that the evil empire Disney have went to Blu-ray. Stupid question, but how much can high definition do for a cartoon?

To Slime's point, Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the highest tier titles for Blu-ray.

Posted Jan 7th 2008 10:29PM by Richard Lawler
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

The Financial Times is reporting that Paramount is preparing to use a get out clause in its HD DVD exclusivity deal, and go back to Blu-ray, about 4 months after ending its dual-format release schedule. The move would be a result of Warner's switch to Blu-ray, using a "get out" clause in Paramount's promotional agreement with the HD DVD camp. No details on what it might take to rip up the contract and make Michael Bay very, very happy, but if the rumor proves true this could make the slow death he predicted for HD DVD a very, very fast one.

Source: Engadget

Well, if this ends up being true, then you can pretty much call the HD DVD format dead. Universal will no doubt follow suit as soon as possible.

The end, I guess!

PARAMOUNT BACKS BLU-RAY!!

Report: Paramount to back Blu-ray
Financial Times says movie studio has the option to switch camps in wake of Warner's decision; studio reiterates HD-DVD stand.
By Emma Boyes, GameSpot UK
Posted Jan 8, 2008 7:53 am PT

Things are heating up in the HD DVD versus Blu-ray format wars--and it's no longer looking like the stalemate that Sony CEO Howard Stringer declared two months ago.

At the end of last week, Warner Bros. announced that it had decided to back Blu-ray--and now there are rumours that because of this move, Paramount and possibly DreamWorks Animation won't be far behind.

Today's Financial Times reveals that according to its sources, Paramount is "poised to reveal" it will be abandoning the HD DVD format in order to go Blu-ray exclusive.

The article states, "Paramount, which is owned by Viacom, is understood to have a clause in its contract with the HD DVD camp that would allow it to switch sides in the event of Warner Bros. backing Blu-ray."

The newspaper believes that this would be the "death knell" for HD DVD and would see the format "likely to suffer the same fate as Sony's now obsolete Betamax video technology, which lost out to VHS in a similar format war in the 1980s."

Blu-ray is currently backed by 20th Century Fox, MGM, Walt Disney, and most recently Warner Bros.; if Paramount jumps ship, Universal will be left as the biggest HD DVD backer.

However, according to a later report from Bloomberg, Paramount has denied that it will be making the move. Brenda Ciccone told the financial Web site, "Paramount's current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format." Toshiba spokesperson Keisuke Ohmori called the report "speculative," while Sony declined to comment.

The rumours had an immediate effect on the stock market--Toshiba's stock fell 0.1 percent to close at ¥782 ($7.17), though during the day the shares had dropped as much as a 1.3 percent, whereas Sony's rose 3.4 percent.

If this ends up being true, the war is OFFICIALLY over.

So, like Warner, come May Universal will no longer be releasing their films exclusively on HD-DVD. No word yet about whether or not they'll release them exclusively on Blu-ray instead, but it seems likely.

So no Warner, no Universal, and maybe no Paramount. Looks like HD-DVD is almost dead.

I saw this on another forum. I think that this is a new step towards a better future...if you want to think about it on a large scale... It will mean that it will be easier to get a player that supports all video formats, or in the soon-to-be future, THE video format, the blu-ray. This seems practical in all means, including the fact that blu-rays can hold much more data then the DVD can.