Warner to join Paramount in going HD DVD only?

CochiseGuy

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Feb 6, 2006
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Cochise County, Arizona
I would be surprised it they did, but my good friend Bill Blu Hunt seems to be worried about it. :eek:

Always a reliable source for breaking news, he confirms in this afternoon's My Two Cents Afternoon Update that Warner was in discussions today to go HD DVD only, and urges reader to plead with Warner to remain neutral.

Bill Blu-ray Hack Hunt said:
While you're at it, some of you might want to express to Warner your desire for them to stay format neutral in the face of pressure (and money) from Microsoft, which we hear is definitely being applied today at the studio.
 
If Warner goes HD DVD-only the war is over...
(I doubt they will, though).
 
Nah- they'd have to get Disney to cave. Unless you mean "over" in the sense that both survive- or both die.
 
I have mixed feelings about this. Obviously Warner has thus far favored HD-DVD (just look at Batman Begins, Matrix, etc). However, any effort they have placed into the TotalHD product will be lost if they go HD DVD only. That being said, with Paramount HD DVD only, that is one less studio that the TotalHD disc is targeted at. So maybe they might be willing to scrap the TotalHD product and go HD DVD.

Also, since it is a year since BR started, maybe the BR studio incentives have run out?

Just thoughts, as I have no inside info, nor have I read Blue Hunt's ramblings.

-John
 
I'm not saying Warner will or won't. I don't know, but it would be a total shock. Warner has taken pride in being the leader in HD disk sales to date holding over 30% of total disk sales. I do know that Warner has not been happy with the delayed BD specs as evidenced by Blood Diamond and the Matrix Trilogies. If it did happen, Disney and Fox could not save BD. Being in the CE business as my secondary job (but main money maker), I have heard rumblings about BD's "demise" within a year and half, even during HD-DVD's lull during the first quarter, so some things were going on even though I did not hear specifics due to confidentiality. Some evidence is LG's and Samsung's shift to dual format.

I'm not saying it's going to happen so don't read it that way.

S~
 
Lets see, three studios are supporting only HD-DVD with two manufactures bringing out HD-DVD players and 5 studios supporting only BD with 9 manufacturers producing BD players. Seems the balance is still to the BD studios.

How about this scenario, let's have the BD camp pool resources and make Warner an offer that they cannot refuse, bring out a low cost BD 1.1 compliant player priced at say $299 and then lets let J6P who is jumping into the HD fray make a choice. If he has a family he is going with BD -- if he does not he is going with HD-DVD.

The rest of us can formulate and debate till the cows come home. Our respective formats are going to be around at least for another 18 months. By then there will be over 15 million BD players in homes around the world (in the disguise of the PS3) and I don't see HD-DVD getting anywhere close to that number. It is going to be discs sales in the end that determines this and how well studios support their respective formats and respective features.
 
Given those options, J6P is just going to stick with DVD IMO, he's happy with it, has a large collection, and his family is happy with their ability to buy any title they want and not have to pick and choose because of agreements they're nearly oblivious to. There isn't enough momentum or the HDTV penetration for either side to get enough momentum to be viable to an everyday consumer (again, IMO).
 
Yep. DVD wins. M$ wins. We all lose.

But I suspect it won't happen that way. DVD sales are stagnant. Studios and retailers hope for high def to start the buying again.
 
With the release of Samsung's Universal player at CEDIA (in a couple of weeks) and the announcement of LG Electronics for dramatic price reductions in the cost of their 2nd generation "universal" ROM drives; I think that we could see universal players at the $500 price point in the next 6 months. This would make the war irrelevant for player owners.

I'm planning on picking up one of the LG drives for use in my HTPC to replace discrete Blu-ray and HD-DVD drives.

Cheers,
 
Lets see, three studios are supporting only HD-DVD with two manufactures bringing out HD-DVD players and 5 studios supporting only BD with 9 manufacturers producing BD players. Seems the balance is still to the BD studios.

First - Studios: Warner is the big heavy weight, currently "sort of" neutral. Remember that Warner is second only to Toshiba in the development & royalty rights to DVD. They have a vested interest in keeping the DVD revenue stream going with HD DVD. Warner has been holding back some releases and "short changing" the BD version of must dual releases - because a year after launch, BD still isn't ready for prime time (no Pip or internet interactivity, inconsistent, voluntary support for DD+ & TrueHD audio). On of BD's biggest backers - Fox - hasn't released anything for almost 6 months because a year after launch, BD still isn't ready for prime time (no BD+). Should financially challenged Lions Gate get picked off to join HD DVD and Warner goes HD exclusive, the studio support suddenly swings 5 to 3 in favor of HD DVD.

Secondly, about those "9 manufacturers producing BD players" - maybe on paper, but not in practice. I don't have any source to back this up, but my estimate is 3 manufacturers account for 90% of standalone BD players - Sony, Panasonic & Samsung. Samsung is already neutral, coming out with a combo player, publicly on record has saying they will make a HD DVD only player if they see the market demand. LG has already gone combo player only. Whatever happened to Phillips, one of the main BDA members? They introduced a high priced 1st gen player that was slow & clunky and had bare bones audio, didn't sell squat, and hasn't been heard of since. Oh yeah, but we have that $2,000 Denon player announced. :rolleyes:

Sony lined up all those CE companies ducks in a row with a promise: "Look, here's how it's going down: We introduce the PS3 with a BD drive, instantly sell millions, and squash HD DVD in the still minuscule HD market. With no High def competition, you guys come with players priced however high you want, and you'll recoup all those millions of lost profits when %$#@! Toshiba licensed DVD to the %$#@! Chinese".

Well, a funny thing happened along the way to the bank - the PS3 stumbled thanks to high price and something called a Wii, HD DVD still has 35% of the minuscule HD disc market, and Sony is the low priced leader for BD players, undercutting even the lowly Koreans. I think there's some PO'd CE companies, and now assured the format war will be a stalemate for at least the next 18 months, you'll start seeing defections any day. ;)
 
Anyone know where I can write to urge them to go HD DVD only?

Wow, what a difference a week makes....
 
Anyone know where I can write to urge them to go HD DVD only?

Wow, what a difference a week makes....

The Warner site has different contacts listed under the company info.

This was Bill Hunts' Quote this morning from Warner:

By the way, we've heard back from both Warner and New Line this morning. Warner says their format neutral stance remains in place... at least for now ("We haven't announced anything otherwise," was the basic quote). And New Line said they still plan to support both high-def formats, and will contact us when they have news about titles and dates.
The Digital Bits - Celebrating Film in the Digital Age

SOunds extremely guarded.

S~
 
Also of interest from that article:

"...Now... here we are, ten years later, on the advent of a future that is almost certainly going to be dominated - whether it happens sooner or later - by some form of downloading. The Hollywood studios have basically one last opportunity to sell their products on a disc-based, packaged media video format. And they're blowing it. 18 months? Seriously? If this format war drags on a defacto stalemate for another 18 months, this thing is over and there isn't going to be a winner. At least not one that comes on a disc.

A lot of people have asked us if we still believe Blu-ray is the better choice, with the better chance to win, and for the most part we do. But there's no doubt that some of Blu-ray's building momentum was lost yesterday. On the other hand, Blu-ray still has an edge in market share in terms of the Hollywood studios. But if Warner goes exclusive for HD-DVD too, Hollywood will basically be evenly split. In that event, while it's certainly a coup for HD-DVD, there's little chance of either format winning. Those who think these formats can coexist will get the chance to learn whether that's true or not. But retailers know - and many of them have been telling us - that you basically get two holiday shopping seasons to sell consumers on a media format. Maybe three. After that, it's yesterday's news. And 18 months takes us well beyond that for both Blu-ray and HD-DVD.

So what do you guys think? Holographic multi-media cubes or downloads?..."

Emphasis added by me.
 
Although I believe the dynamics plays a big role, I can't quite understand why the BD side gets so worked up about the Paramount deal (or fiasco, if you want).

HD was able to hold the fort with just 1 (one!) exclusive and 2 neutral studios. So, one of the Disney/Fox duo can go HD exclusive and the other - neutral and still the BD side will be in the same boat HD was just a week ago: Sony (as a studio) exclusive and two neutral (Warner + Fox/Disney).

And considering BD loyalty resembles Apple's in the computer world, I don't think any of the two formats are going anywhere any time soon.

Diogen.
 
Oh, they might be going somewhere all right. Down the drain. That's a real possibility. That's why people get upset.
 

Must be a reason for the Deep Colour and xvYCC compliant players?

The latest spin by the Masters of FUD - The BDA

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