Warner Bros. Goes Blu-ray Exclusive; HD DVD Reduced to 30 Percent Market Share
Those free copies of 300 bundled with Toshiba's players now seem painfully appropriate.
All right, show of hands: How many of you received an HD DVD player for Christmas?
If your hand is up, we sure hope you got a gift receipt to go along with that shiny new piece of hardware, because the hi-def format war -- which still appeared thoroughly muddled just a few days ago -- seems to have shifted irrevocably in Blu-ray's favor, thanks to Warner Bros.' decision to abandon the HD DVD format. Warners' move effectively gives Blu-ray 70% of the market, leaving Paramount/DreamWorks and Universal as the last two studios producing HD DVD titles. Portions of Warner Bros.' statement are excerpted below:
The HD DVD Promotion Group, faced with the unenviable task of putting a positive spin on the news, waited until the weekend to issue a response. Unsurprisingly, it was rather brief:
While Warner's decision is a setback for HD DVD, the consumer has benefited from HD DVD's commitment to quality and affordability -- a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format. We believe widespread adoption of a next generation format will ultimately be determined by the consumer."
Okay, that wasn't all of the response, but most of the rest has to do with the HD DVD Promotion Group postponing its CES press conference indefinitely. Unless all your favorite movies are made by either Paramount or Universal, it sounds like your hi-def options have been officially narrowed down to one. So here's what we're dying to know, RTers: How many of you will be speeding up your investment in a next-gen player as a result of this news -- and how many of you are still perfectly happy with your plain old DVDs?
If your hand is up, we sure hope you got a gift receipt to go along with that shiny new piece of hardware, because the hi-def format war -- which still appeared thoroughly muddled just a few days ago -- seems to have shifted irrevocably in Blu-ray's favor, thanks to Warner Bros.' decision to abandon the HD DVD format. Warners' move effectively gives Blu-ray 70% of the market, leaving Paramount/DreamWorks and Universal as the last two studios producing HD DVD titles. Portions of Warner Bros.' statement are excerpted below:
"Warner Bros.' move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want," said Meyer. "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 Home Video will continue to release its titles in standard DVD format and Blu-ray. After a short window following their standard DVD and Blu-ray releases, all new titles will continue to be released in HD DVD until the end of May 2008.
"Warner Bros. has produced in both high-definition formats in an effort to provide consumer choice, foster mainstream adoption and drive down hardware prices," said Jeff Bewkes, President and Chief Executive Officer, Time Warner Inc., the parent company of Warner Bros. Entertainment. "Today's decision by Warner Bros. to distribute in a single format comes at the right time and is the best decision both for consumers and Time Warner."
The HD DVD Promotion Group, faced with the unenviable task of putting a positive spin on the news, waited until the weekend to issue a response. Unsurprisingly, it was rather brief:
While Warner's decision is a setback for HD DVD, the consumer has benefited from HD DVD's commitment to quality and affordability -- a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format. We believe widespread adoption of a next generation format will ultimately be determined by the consumer."
Okay, that wasn't all of the response, but most of the rest has to do with the HD DVD Promotion Group postponing its CES press conference indefinitely. Unless all your favorite movies are made by either Paramount or Universal, it sounds like your hi-def options have been officially narrowed down to one. So here's what we're dying to know, RTers: How many of you will be speeding up your investment in a next-gen player as a result of this news -- and how many of you are still perfectly happy with your plain old DVDs?
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digitalrelic writes: on Jan 07 2008 11:29 AM good to hear there's finally a direction that all consumers can start going. No way blu-ray is going to lose now, the 'war' is all but over. (Reply to this) |
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Horstradamus writes: on Jan 07 2008 11:31 AM I won't touch either of the formats until the industry gets their crap together. I'm sure I'm not the only consumer feeling this way. (Reply to this) |
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bribios writes: on Jan 07 2008 11:40 AM My TV is from 1998. So no, this doesn't speed up my plans. (Reply to this) |
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mofojoe85 writes: on Jan 07 2008 11:44 AM I agree with Horstradamus. I'll wait until the smoke settles. In the mean time, I am perfectly happy with my DVDs. (Reply to this) |
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OperaGhost21 writes: on Jan 07 2008 11:51 AM I'm a Blu-Ray supporter, and my collection is steadily growing in the hopes that BD would soon take over. I'm very glad to hear Warner take a firm stance on the HD issue, and hopefully Paramount and Universal will soon concede and follow suit. Very good news indeed. (Reply to this) |
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quigonjim1 writes: on Jan 07 2008 12:05 PM I did like HD DVD flip discs I hope Blu Ray tries to do something similar. (Reply to this) |
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AlbertBrodsky writes: on Jan 07 2008 12:14 PM This sucks for me. I bought a HD DVD player for $99 and it's supposedly going to get me 5 movies by mail. The only reason I bought it was the price tag, and it upconverts normal DVDs to 1080i. No big loss, considering it will be a looonnngg time before I start building a new DVD library anytime soon. I bet we're a good two-three years before you start seeing any new DVD players in households like regular DVD players today. Most people I know didn't buy a DVD player until they dropped to $100 and lower, and that took years. (Reply to this) |
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DrPayne writes: on Jan 07 2008 12:21 PM The one thing this does for me is encourage me to by a PS3 now, since I know it won't just be a $500 video game console, but a VIABLE next Gen DVD player. Sorta weird that the next gen X-Box will probably have to pay Sony for Blu-Ray components. Insult to injury, insult to injury. (Reply to this) |
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dahluzz writes: on Jan 07 2008 12:26 PM DISCS DON'T LAST. why invest in a format that leaves half of its surface wholly susceptible to damage? one scratch can ruin the entire product. why not wait a year or two until all movies are available for download in HD? by then, people tech-savy enough to care that they're watching HD will have made the proper adjustments so that their HDTVs are one with their computers. Forget DVR and discs, all of your media (and the internet) will be available through an interface. I know a guy who worked at radio shack that has had this set up for years. Soon enough, the everyman will catch on and the need for any sort of physical format will cease to exist. itunes is already leading the pack and now netflix has a click-and-play streaming feature. for better or worse, this is where things are going. (Reply to this) |
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ajmk123 writes: on Jan 07 2008 12:28 PM Great news (Reply to this) |
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Floor Man writes: on Jan 07 2008 12:30 PM Thirded, Horstradamus and mofojoe85. Unless I'm playing them on a ridiculously big screen (which I usually don't), I am, as well, perfectly happy with my regular (and much-cheaper) DVDs. (Reply to this) |
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Merlin235 writes: on Jan 07 2008 12:45 PM This is good news. My PS3 plays Blu ray on my 50" TV so beautifully, I'd never go back. The difference isn't even funny. (Reply to this) |
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muffin7 writes: on Jan 07 2008 12:47 PM I have both formats and they both look the same. I don't think that a Blu-ray is totally necessary for HD video, an HD DVD is more than capable of handling HD video, the additional space a Blu Ray packs will pretty much go untouched IMO. I really thought this format war would be decided by the next gen consoles (in which case I would see the 360 HD DVD as the leader at the moment) but I guess not. In the end this really doesn't matter. I agree with dahluzz, I'm waiting for everything to be available for download once our internet connections get cheaper and faster. (Reply to this) |
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kissman24 writes: on Jan 07 2008 12:53 PM You know who this is good for? Well, not the consumer that's for sure. The people who own HD-DVD players are now going to get screwed because a huge movie company isn't going to make movies for their over-priced player. Why can't the industry let the consumers figure it out? This is a corporate power-play and it's going to help lead to the demise of HD-DVD and make Sony richer. Sony is the only winner. We lose. Personally, I won't buy any of this crap. I sure as heck ain't paying $30 to $40 a DVD no matter how much I like the movie. (Reply to this) |
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ajmk123 writes: on Jan 07 2008 12:57 PM kissman, i am a winner. I own a PS3 thus i have a bluray player. Not to mention that the consumers are the ones that decided this, they are the ones that are buying blu-ray movies 6 to 1 over HD, so you have no idea what you are talking about. (Reply to this) |
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jokerboy1991 writes: on Jan 07 2008 01:07 PM I'm gonna wait a while til I get an HD player, until then I'm sticking with DVD's. HD players are kinda pricey. And I'll just buy the movies that are not sold for HDDVD and just Blu Ray, I'll just buy the regular DVD's (Reply to this) |
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filmgeek44 writes: on Jan 07 2008 01:15 PM Just for the record: The headline misstates the situation. *Nobody* has projected "market share." The "30%" everyone in the press is citing refers to the percentage of titles in Hollywood film libraries that HD DVD owners will have access to. And even *that* number -- which has become the Conventional Wisdom -- is significantly wrong. It's actually almost 38%. So the Blu/HD split is 62/38, not 70/30. In practical terms, it's probably irrelevant, since HD DVD is almost certainly doomed, and the split will likely be 100/0 or (at best from an HD DVD point of view) 100/38, with the two remaining HD studios supporting both formats. But it's a little galling to see this incorrect number spread all through the media. (Reply to this) |
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filmgeek44 writes: on Jan 07 2008 01:17 PM Ooops. In the above post, I meant to say "...within a year the split will likely be..." (Reply to this) |
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rgallitan writes: on Jan 07 2008 01:25 PM kissman, there's no way one side or the other couldn't have been hurt, no matter who decides. The only way to avoid hurting consumers would have been to not have this format war in the first place. Which would have been wonderful. DVD appeared without a format war, and enjoyed probably the best and smoothest launch of any media format ever. Personally, I don't care which disc wins - one may be better than the other, but they're both good enough. The industry should have recognized that and picked one right from the start. Warner recognizes it, and good for them for making a bold move to put this conflict in the ground as soon as possible. Don't anybody take this as evidence that Warner execs think Blu-Ray is a better disc. This was just their best move to stop this nonsense as quick as possible. Btw, the consumer HAD been deciding, about a year ago, and was steadily moving in the direction of Blu-Ray. Studios were beginning to follow suit. Blockbuster followed suit. ...And then came Toshiba's huge payoff to a few studios for exclusive HD-DVD support, and everyone's been confused as hell ever since. If they hadn't done that, I'm sure it would be over by now. (Reply to this) |
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opTIMus Nerd writes: on Jan 07 2008 01:32 PM I am just peachy with regular DVD. We will all need to go HD as far as TV goes but I beleive, as someone above has mentioned already, that the days of buying a physical product are soon to end and it will all be digital downloads from then until the power goes out permanently. (Reply to this) |
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