Will Warner Bros. Endorse Blu-ray?

[Poke]

Will Warner Bros. Endorse Blu-ray?

Studio executive hints that dual-format policy may be changing.
By Swanni

Washington, D.C. (October 30, 2007) -- Warner Bros. has been neutral in the Blu-ray-HD DVD disc war, releasing movies in both high-def formats.

However, that policy may be changing, says a top Warner executive.

Dan Silverberg, Warner's vice president of High-Definition media, hinted Monday at a Blu-ray briefing for the media that the studio might soon endorse Blu-ray.

Warner is now the only major studio that releases movies in both formats; two support HD DVD exclusively while four have endorsed Blu-ray.


Warner films like 300 could soon be Blu-ray exclusives.

But Home Media Magazine reports that Silverberg believes that Blu-ray may be winning the format war and, consequently, it may be time for the studio to pick one over the other.

“One thing that may be changing is our strategy,” he said. “When both formats launched and hardware prices were high, we made a decision to support both formats and let the consumer decide. But now that hardware pricing is affordable for both Blu-ray and HD DVD, it appears consumers no longer want to decide — so the notion of staying in two formats for the duration is something we are re-evaluating now that we are in the fourth quarter.”

The Warner executive noted that Blu-ray sales have topped HD DVD by a 2-1 margin over the last nine months.

While he didn't come out and endorse Blu-ray, it sounded like the studio had a clear favorite if it decides to endorse one format.

“We can definitely talk Blu-ray,” he said. “We are committed to the format.”

Warner's decision to support Blu-ray over HD DVD could have a major impact on the high-def disc format war. Without Warner, HD DVD's catalogue would only include titles from two studios.

 

[JoeSp]

This would be nice and would definately boost BluRay's future outlook. But until it actually happens I would be happy to see Warner in both camps. Of course it is their decision. Let's hope that BD sales for Warner keep outpacing their HD-DVD sales. As I have always said - it is disc sales that count -- not actual players because studios only get money off of the disc sales not the player sales.

 

[vurbano]

This would be nice and would definately boost BluRay's future outlook. But until it actually happens I would be happy to see Warner in both camps. Of course it is their decision. Let's hope that BD sales for Warner keep outpacing their HD-DVD sales. As I have always said - it is disc sales that count -- not actual players because studios only get money off of the disc sales not the player sales.

I disagree. It is not disc sales that count, it is dollars from those sales. BOGO numbers and etc totally skew disc sale numbers making them meaningless.

 

[navychop]

Why do you think they're dumping those HD DVD players so cheap? In any event, I understand they are good DVD upconverters.

While the announcement could be this week, I don't expect to hear for sure until January. And it's certainly not a sure thing. But that's where the smart money is.

Companies run half price sales all the time. Early on in product cycles all involved seem willing to take losses to establish market share. Nothing new. Just how the game is played.

 

[randers29259]

It seems that HD-DVD gives away as many discs as blu-ray, buy a xbox add on and they give you a bazillion free discs


Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player + Heroes + 7 HD-DVD's 10/21 Best Buy $179.99

Wow they throw away the baby in the bath water and still cant outsell blu-ray

 

[meStevo]

It seems that HD-DVD gives away as many discs as blu-ray, buy a xbox add on and they give you a bazillion free discs


Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player + Heroes + 7 HD-DVD's 10/21 Best Buy $179.99

Wow they throw away the baby in the bath water and still cant outsell blu-ray

Do you really think the 5 free and Heroes count towards sales figures?

Someone do this math for me.

How many HDDVD capable players are out there.

How many Blu-Ray capable players are out there.

Now how many titles per player have been purchased.

Now someone tell me how that isn't one of if not the most important metric for a studio.

More is better, but success equals attach rate, look at the Xbox 360, at over 6 games per console purchased. Joe is right, the money is in the software, and the numbers of BD discs sold are what is keeping Warner in the BD camp, but you can bet that the attach rate is what is keeping them neutral.

For HD-DVD to win the war, they just need to keep the attach rate intact and get more hardware in homes, everything else will fall into place.

 

[db2]

If hope Warner goes BD exclusive and reduces HD-DVD to nothing more than a niche product.

I own both formats and I think they both look and sound great but I think the elimination of one format soon is essential for the survival of HDM. IMHO if Warner went HDDVD exclusive it would only even things up and drag the war out indefinitely. Going BD exclusive will tip the scales against HDDVD and hopefully ensure the survival of at least one of the formats.

 

[ONUOsFan]

If hope Warner goes BD exclusive and reduces HD-DVD to nothing more than a niche product.

I own both formats and I think they both look and sound great but I think the elimination of one format soon is essential for the survival of HDM. IMHO if Warner went HDDVD exclusive it would only even things up and drag the war out indefinitely. Going BD exclusive will tip the scales against HDDVD and hopefully ensure the survival of at least one of the formats.

That's one of the most rational arguments I've heard yet... getting this over with is better for all of us, and you're right - Disney, etc. aren't going to jump to HD just because Warner did and it could go on for a while...

 

[IcEWoLF]

Well as of now its up to Warner early next year on what they are going to do, from what I see from those comments, things may look better if Warner goes to BD exclusive, what would happen then? The end of Blu-ray vs HD-DVD?
To me this will go on like the war between DTV vs E*, until someone steps up (DTV with 70+HD channels in this case), this may be the era of one of the formats to just go.
If Warned switches over, I have a feeling the other two studios with HD-DVD would move on to BD.

 

[jmd102354]

:up
Just a matter of time . Now that Toshiba is having a Fire Sale with the Dust Collecting stock of hddvd players, I am pretty sure they see the writing on the wall.

: To BLU RAY !!!!!

 

[meStevo]

:up
Just a matter of time . Now that Toshiba is having a Fire Sale with the Dust Collecting stock of hddvd players, I am pretty sure they see the writing on the wall.

: To BLU RAY !!!!!

I'd wager that less is lost on each of these HDDVD players than are lost on each 40gb PS3. Also, there's a big possibility Toshiba wasn't even involved in these sales, and they were attempts by the other big box merchants to steal some Wal-Mart thunder, they don't want a bunch of J6Ps to go to Wal-mart for their HD needs.

 

[JoeSp]

They are dumping old stock before the bring out their 3rd gen players. This is a smart move as it does net them alot more standalones nationwide. I would love to see a BD player for $199 and see if it jumps off the shelf. I really believe that movies alone is not going to do it as Toshiba has shown it is willing to go to the floor on prices. The BDA as a group must put something out there that will compete at price and flood the market with it. I think the new Sony BD player should go sub $200 on Black Friday. That would really push the market.

As for Warner, they have stated that the 2 to 1 lead of BD over HD-DVD has them looking. They expect that with the low price onslaught by Toshiba and the Chinese player that there should be some dramatic sales turnaround of HD-DVD disc sales. We can only hope that BD owners go out and start purchasing BD movies for Xmas and that Warner is a big selection of those titles. I really think that Warner is looking at where they think the most money can be made and BD needs to be the leader in Warner movie sales.

 

[bsk116]

They are dumping old stock before the bring out their 3rd gen players. This is a smart move as it does net them alot more standalones nationwide. I would love to see a BD player for $199 and see if it jumps off the shelf. I really believe that movies alone is not going to do it as Toshiba has shown it is willing to go to the floor on prices. The BDA as a group must put something out there that will compete at price and flood the market with it. I think the new Sony BD player should go sub $200 on Black Friday. That would really push the market.

As for Warner, they have stated that the 2 to 1 lead of BD over HD-DVD has them looking. They expect that with the low price onslaught by Toshiba and the Chinese player that there should be some dramatic sales turnaround of HD-DVD disc sales. We can only hope that BD owners go out and start purchasing BD movies for Xmas and that Warner is a big selection of those titles. I really think that Warner is looking at where they think the most money can be made and BD needs to be the leader in Warner movie sales.

Relax Joe, the give away is over, I am sure red has has gained some ground but more importantly I think this will inspire BD to carry out it's business model with maybe a few embellishments of it's own.
If flooding the market with inexpensive players sells a lot more software, kudos to the red side, they made a good call.
If the current 2:1 sales ratio remains unchanged after the month of November, I would feel confident that BR with all it has going for it will survive without resorting to desperate measures. If I am wrong, big deal

 

[Peter Parker]

it si funny how the partisans of teach side can read the same articles and press releases and come up ewith opposite answers. To me all this means that they are studying the trends and could go either way---though i admit that the language used to describe their commitment to BD is somewhat more enthusiastic than towrds HD--DVD----but they could be swayed.

As for "fire sales" I agree with others. It sia sound move to get rid of the old stock before the next generation is out and thsi way they got some attention.

As someone who would like to see the format war end before he makes the investment and has no ax to grind. it is hard to say anything except that the signs seem decidedly mixed

 

[navychop]

Note that in other forums people are posting that the manufacture dates on those <$100 players are Jan/Feb 2007.

 

[vurbano]

I would love to see a BD player for $199 and see if it jumps off the shelf.

Dream on.....maybe xmas 2008