Warner Bros. Chooses Blu-ray Exclusively!
Filed under: Fandom, Tech Stuff, Newsstand, Home Entertainment, Politics
Score one for Blu-ray! According to a press release, Warner Brothers has struck a deal to release all of their films exclusively on DVD and Blu-ray, beginning in May 2008. The studio will continue to release their films on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray until May, but from then on out they're going strictly with the latter. Which is great for me, seeing as I finally chose to side with Blu-ray this past Christmas when I received a PS3 from Santa. We'll have to see how this breaks down for HD-DVD in the long run, but having Warners exclusively on your side is definitely a great thing. Now, in your opinion, how big of a move is this? And is Blu-ray in a great position to finally win the format war? Check out the official press release below:
(January 4, 2008 – Burbank, CA) – In response to consumer demand, Warner Bros. Entertainment will release its high-definition DVD titles exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year, it was announced today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros. and Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.
"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."
More after the jump ...
[via Engadget HD]
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."
"A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry," said Tsujihara. "Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray, and we believe that recognizing this preference is the right step in making this great home entertainment experience accessible to the widest possible audience. Warner Bros. has worked very closely with the Toshiba Corporation in promoting high definition media and we have enormous respect for their efforts. We look forward to working with them on other projects in the future."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-04-2008 @ 6:34PM
MCW said...
I think this is a major blow to HD-DVD. Warner owns so much of the movie landscape, when you give it all to Blu-ray, people have no choice but to follow (If they want a high definition viewing experience).
Sure, Universal and Paramount are the lone-holdouts now, in favor of HDDVD exclusively, but I think they will soon follow Warner (Until then, if you choose to support them, you can still rent their DVD versions of films). Where the money goes, they will go. I don't think they want to be grasping at straws, better to jump ship before it sinks.
I am happy with the decision by Warner. They certainly took long enough to decide. But, it's been rumored for months now that they would be first to switch, so everyone saw this coming (Although, people expected the announcement to be made at CES).
- http://www.blu-ray.com
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1-04-2008 @ 6:40PM
Jason said...
This whole thing is so stupid... by signing exclusing deals they are only going to kill off this generation of HD discs... I don't want either format... I don't know who makes the movies I want to watch... I don't know who is going to make a cool movie next year that I am going to want to watch...
I watch my HD movies on XBOX Live or Comcast On Demand... if these disc groups don't get their crap together they are going to be worthless... I wouldn't touch either of these until the players are less than $100 and the movies are the same price as the regular DVD versions... really... who wants to pay $35 for a movie?
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1-04-2008 @ 7:49PM
MCW said...
"This whole thing is so stupid... by signing exclusing deals they are only going to kill off this generation of HD discs"
Warner's plan is to help kill off HDDVD in support of Blu-ray, to make it an easier decision for the consumer.
"I don't know who makes the movies I want to watch"
True, it's not something that everyone pays attention to, but if you are a Hi-defaphile, it's more important.
"... the movies are the same price as the regular DVD versions... really... who wants to pay $35 for a movie?"
Good point. I don't buy too many, but have been taking advantage of Amazon's buy one get one free offers lately for Blu-ray. A brand new movie in the highest quality possible on a disc, and I can get it free. Also, by paying a little extra now (Until the price comes down), you're ensuring that you have the best possible version of your favorite movie to watch for many years to come.
If you buy a DVD now instead of the blu-ray version of a movie, you aren't looking very far ahead, considering that the bigger the TV you get, and if it's 1080p, you're going to regret your decision. If you want a movie theater quality experience, you simply have to go with the better stuff, the more expensive stuff (Facts of life).
It's like still buying VHS tapes in 2007 (Granted, that is an exaggeration, but it won't be so much in a few years). I guarantee that there are still grandma's out there buying VHS versions of movie at the thrift store. Hanging on by a thread, they are.
It's sad for anyone to hear that something new and refreshing is also going to cost them, but I am confident this is like the difference between Cassette tapes and CD's. People just don't know it yet. Give them time.
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1-04-2008 @ 8:32PM
Midnight13 said...
I always thought Blu Ray was more or less just a company name. That the tecnology they use is not any different then the one used for HD DVD. I was looking to get HD over Blu Ray because High Defintion is high defination, same technology they use when you watch television in HD. I think its terrible that film companies have to choose one or the other instead of just putting movies out on both formats, this crap is turning into the video game wars, yet DVDs are more mainstream.
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1-04-2008 @ 10:22PM
MCW said...
"I always thought Blu Ray was more or less just a company name. That the tecnology they use is not any different then the one used for HD DVD. I was looking to get HD over Blu Ray because High Defintion is high defination, same technology they use when you watch television in HD."
Oh no. That is the problem. People aren't informed enough about media formats. Both are High definition discs, it just happens that HDDVD got the more recognizable name, and perhaps more descriptive. Sony is the main supporter of Blu-ray, Microsoft supports HDDVD. Don't make your decision to buy a player just because of what it is called. Make an informed decision by reading reviews, and looking at how much studio support the format has.
Take a look here for more details about Blu-ray Vs. HDDVD studio support, and I think you'll see that the decision is clear, and it will become even clearer as the year progresses:
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/studios.php
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1-04-2008 @ 10:27PM
MCW said...
To clarify my previous statement, Microsoft supports HD DVD with an add-on player for the Xbox 360, although other companies, like Toshiba make set-top players that support HD DVD.
Sony's Blu-ray player is built into it's Playstation 3 game console, and ready to go. Many other companies make Blu-ray set-top players as well.
So, it's not possible to name the "top" supporters of either format, but game consoles are heavily used to push the formats, much like the Playstation 2 pushed DVD into homes when it arrived.
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1-05-2008 @ 12:24PM
Matt Hinkley said...
I thought I would go ahead and jump in on this one.
I own both a HD-DVD player and a Blu-Ray player...I have always enjoyed both, and had no complaints over which format would come out ahead.
I agree with MCW...everyone needs to be informed before jumping on board with either format. HD-DVD is going to have a tough job of recovering from only 2 studios supporting it. Blu-Ray, still has to overcome "expensive" players. I know they have gone down and you can find some for around $300, but HD had even hit $100 for christmas shoppers.
This war is definitely not yet over, and now with the backing of a major studio "warner" Blu-Ray has some big moves in order to win this thing.
Just my 2 cents!
Enjoy the day!
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