Warner Home Video to support Blu-ray exclusively?
by Darren Murph 
posted Oct 30th 2007 at 8:01AM
Don't etch this one in stone just yet, but for those keeping a close eye on studios and which camp(s) they support, here's the latest. Reportedly, a so-called Blu-ray Festival has been raging in Hollywood, and aside from BD backers showing up in support of upcoming / existing films, there have also been a few interesting remarks uttered along the way. Most notably, Dan Silverberg, VP of high-definition media for Warner Home Video, stated that "one thing that may be changing is [Warner's] strategy," and he continued by proclaiming that hardware prices had reached a point where consumers "no longer wanted to decide" which format reigned supreme. The speech actually got interesting when he mentioned that the "notion of staying in two formats for the duration is something the company was re-evaluating." Beyond that, egos were simply inflated even more as recent BD vs. HD DVD sales figures were trumpeted about, but we think the aforementioned commentary is far more interesting that hearing about numbers we're already familiar with.[Thanks, AG23]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ryan @ Oct 30th 2007 8:12AM
With the exception of Warner, the rest of the article is totally biased in that all quotes are from studios exclusive to blu-ray. Who's to say Sony didn't pay them off?
SolidOni @ Oct 30th 2007 8:22AM
Shoulda given bluray the matrix before this move, I want it so bad!As I always say in these kinda of articles though I don't care who wins I just want it done and if this is true it's another nail in the coffin for hd-dvd which at the moment is more likely to lose
Mike @ Oct 30th 2007 9:07AM
I don't care who wins either...but if I get to buy my HDTV this Christmas I want the most affordable player...so it looks right now I will be trying to get the $169 HD DVD player at Sears (on black friday) or the $198 player everywhere else.
smee @ Oct 30th 2007 8:34AM
Just more blu ray spin, apparently the article quoted as several "out of context" quotes.
Xyzzy @ Oct 30th 2007 8:37AM
Wow... I posted a comment in the HDM release thread yesterday that said the opposite of this. According to a thread in AVS Forum (which has been locked since the Blu-Boys started picking fights), there's been several conferences or something, and Toshiba has been with WB at all of them, yet BD was nowhere to be seen... So the rumor is that WB is going HD DVD exclusive.
Someone asked yesterday why WB would release Polar Express now, instead of closer to Xmas, and going HD DVD exclusive (but already having the BD disks of that movie printed) would be one good reason to release the movie in October.
I just read the article -- and nowhere in there does WB even HINT that they're going BD exclusive... The closest you get is the following quote:
We can definitely talk Blu-ray, he said. We are committed to the format.
However, the way the article is written, that quote is attributed by David Berman because it's part of that paragraph. Looks like BD spin on the article's part.
I also really found this quote humorous: "There also were indications that the Blu-ray camp is done playing nice." No comment necessary there.
Reports are that Warner's BD contract expires October 31st, so we'll see.... I just find it really hard to believe that Paramount would've gone HD DVD without talking to WB and finding out their potential plans.
JeffDM @ Oct 30th 2007 12:13PM
I'm kind of lost as to why Warner's position would make any difference to Paramount.
AG23 @ Oct 30th 2007 1:31PM
Also can be found at ...
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Warner/Warner_Mulls_Change_in_High-Def_Strategy/1123
Take it for what it's worth, but I believe it is pretty convincing that Warner will go exclusive to Blu-Ray sooner rather than later.
smee @ Oct 30th 2007 8:38AM
Oops, that should have read...
Just more blu ray spin, apparently the article quoted contains several "out of context' quotes
HD @ Oct 30th 2007 8:46AM
Isn't Tosh bundling "300" now with some of it's players??
Hard to imagine them doing that if Warner was about to jump ship, they would have to have some strong indications of future happenings to be doing that.
Jnas @ Oct 30th 2007 8:49AM
lol @ HDDVD if this happens.
Btw @ Xyzzy i think its quite strange that WB would be hinting at HDDVD exclusivity at a big Blu-ray event where they were praising the format, touting numbers like how big the 300 sales for bluray were, and saying stuff like "We're committed to the format".
Xyzzy @ Oct 30th 2007 8:59AM
@Jnas: "saying stuff like "We're committed to the format". "
That's the point Jnas, they DIDN'T say that. Read my first post in this thread -- the article is written to make it SOUND like they said that, but the WB guy didn't say it. Maybe he did, and the article is written very poorly, but I doubt it - looks like spin to me. You gotta read things with a critical eye. :)
smee @ Oct 30th 2007 8:50AM
It wouldn't be the first time sony hasn't worried about letting the truth get in the way of a good story, time will tell.
Xyzzy @ Oct 30th 2007 8:50AM
This post is no different than this post from Ben:
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/02/07/universal-poised-to-poised-to-hop-on-to-the-blu-ray-bandwagon/
While I was digging that up, I found this humorous article as well:
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/01/08/paramounts-2007-blu-ray-high-profile-titles/
Ryan P @ Oct 30th 2007 8:56AM
My HD DVD firefox filter add-on just changed all the Blu-ray's in the article to HD-DVD. Wow that's really GOOD news.
Jnas @ Oct 30th 2007 8:58AM
Xyzzy, in that universal link did a Univesal representative hint at the move? Nope, it was just speculation, nothing more than that. In this article, we have quotes from the VP of high-definition media for Warner Home Video saying this stuff. And, i think many will agree that theres quite a difference there.
andyg8180 @ Oct 30th 2007 9:06AM
This is definitliy a "Go Blu-Ray" article... I own both blu-ray and HD-DVD and can tell you that Blu-ray has NOTHING on HD-DVD... yeah picture quality is nearly the same, but the features and ease of use goes to HD-DVD for me...
I dont know why more companies arnt going HD-DVD considering you get a great quality for $.25 less per disc... and for the idiots saying "oh its just a quarter less" multiply $.25 by 500,000 discs for a big name release... thats a butt load of money...
And i will continue to mention this, but you can't base a win on "Movies purchased" because i will bet money that more people in this country RENT movies rather than buy them... and renting is definlty more attractive than purchasing... $1 rental vs $30 purchase? No contest...
Doc @ Oct 30th 2007 9:32AM
what if redbox started renting HD movies for $2 per day HD or Blu-ray? I still feel that this war should have been fought years ago when HDTV's where starting to show up on the market...
Dave @ Oct 30th 2007 9:34AM
I heard a rumor that EngadgetHD is going format-neutral. You can't believe everything you hear.
Peak @ Oct 30th 2007 9:42AM
Did someone stop to think that WB partially owns IPRs in HD DVD. That Toshiba actually earns a buck (or rather a cent, probably) on every player sold.
So the rational choice would be to go BD exclusive? Yeah, right.
Of course, for enough money anything can transpire. I'm not saying it's an impossibilty. It's just that, to me, it doesn't seem like a sound business decision.
h4ldol @ Oct 30th 2007 9:57AM
No big surprise there. It won't affect the eventual outcome of this format "war" (e.g. blu-ray emerging as the victor), but will hasten the process. What on earth will the poor HD DUD fanboys do then? First, their beloved Transformers cannot win even one week of sales for HD DUD even when up against no big blu-ray release. Then the director of their favorite movie kicks HD DUD fans across the world in their collective nutz with a reaffirmation of his support for blu-ray, even figuratively putting his money (and that's a lot, thanks to all the HD DUD fans out there!) on blu-ray. And now Warner predicted to jump ship and become blu-ray exclusive? Guess the larger capacity/bandwidth, lack of problems displaying 108p/24 natively, and the overwhelming support of the CE industry as well as early adopters worldwide helped sway their thinking. Oh, and those millions of PS3s that parents are now recognizing as blu-ray players for HD movie playback, that should help too. Bye-bye HD DUD... say hello to DIVX for us.
LiqwidZero @ Oct 30th 2007 10:13AM
WB will stay neutral. Their neutral stance has paid them off time and time again, even they have stated this... again and again.
David (phidjit) @ Oct 30th 2007 10:16AM
I can't find anything in the article to suggest that in re-evaluating their support of both formats they were going to choose Blu-ray. In fact, if they're talking about hardware prices having reached a point where consumers "no longer wanted to decide" then I can only assume they're talking about HD-DVD and their sub $200 player. http://feeds.feedburner.com/%7Er/highdefdigesthddvdnews/%7E3/176734124/1116
If it's true that Warner Brothers Blu-Ray contract expires on October 31st (Xyzzy mentioned it above), then I suspect it'll actually go the other way. With Universal, Warner, and Paramount all supporting HD-DVD exclusively coupled with a cheap entry level player...
This is now Blu-ray's war to lose. This holiday season could get pretty exciting.
ryan @ Oct 30th 2007 10:57AM
One could assume since it was said at a blu-ray function that it would go blu's way.
peyote @ Oct 30th 2007 3:25PM
@david phidjit,
from http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?article_id=11449, the story engadgethd links to, (halfway down right after what you quoted) he says they are committed to Blu-ray.
-start quote-
-
-
Silverberg noted that Warner has the top-selling Blu-ray title of all time with 300 and is consistently No. 1 or No. 2 in both Blu-ray sales market share and in number of Blu-ray titles in the market.
We can definitely talk Blu-ray, he said. We are committed to the format.
-
-
-end quote-
personally, i favor HD-DVD and this could easily be double-speak considering he's at a Blu-Ray rally. i mean what else would he say there, right?
Smee @ Oct 31st 2007 1:38AM
@Ryan
One could assume since it was said at a blu-ray function that it is all lies.
Eddie @ Oct 30th 2007 11:02AM
Dunn also intimated that the format war is being perpetuated by Microsoft in the hopes of confusing consumers so much they dont support either format and ultimately buy their entertainment online. He didnt name the computer giant by name, but blasted the orchestrated campaigns of confusion and anti-consumerism fueled by an 800-pound gorilla that would prefer to force us all into the practice of paying tolls for the right to exchange information and enjoy entertainment.
Um... that doesn't sound like Sony to anybody else?
Smee @ Oct 30th 2007 8:45PM
@Eddie
An inflammatory BR statement like that might be all it takes for Microsoft to jump in boots and all.
Integrated HD DVD 360 anyone?
Interested Watcher @ Oct 30th 2007 11:05AM
It is true that Warners membershiop of the BDA is up on 31st Oct.
Whether they renew or not will be very interesting.
I doubt Paramount's experience with Blu-ray's additional costs is unique just to them and bearing in mind Warner also hold HD DVD royalty earning patents I think it is highly unlikely they will be dumping HD DVD in the way Paramount dumped Blu-ray.
If anything the opposite is more likely.
I'd say it's much more likely for Warner to dump Blu-ray.
This could well be the last little bit of 'public' negotiating.
(and it is worth noting that nowhere is there a direct & attributable quote to anyone that actually says what this article implies.)
domerdel @ Oct 30th 2007 11:11AM
I don't think that Warner is going to dump either format, they're making the most money because they support both, and to even THINK it's more likely for Warner to dump blu-ray over HD-DVD is a joke.
Can someone cite the link about how Warner's contract is up on the 31st? I mean, isn't that being confused with the BDA mandated 1.1 profile?
Interested Watcher @ Oct 30th 2007 11:14AM
....oh and one last thing.
This BS that Microsoft want both to fail so they can rule a downloaded on-line content world?
In what fantasy reality is that even possible nevermind likely?
The central and most laughable stumbling block for that nonsense (that is always ignored when discussing this ridiculous fanboy fantasy) is the capped and limited bandwidth that is the experience of so many people all over the western (supposedly) developed world.
It'll be many years until enough people have a bandwidth sufficient to make that kind of future even a possibility nevermind an actual profitable reality.
It also flies in the face of known customer behaviour, people (especially the general public) are used to & like their safe physical back-ups and discs of some kind are as handy and familiar a medium as any.
Those who imagine these discs are the last physical media we'll see are just guessing.
Unless HDDs get more robust, reliable and more widely accepted by the mainstrean public.
The techy comunity might not care to accept it but all of this has to 'fly' with the general public and discs have a future there - hell, SD DVD still has a good future there no matter what happens with high def.
High def's movie disc's biggest challenger right now is HD TV services.
Bob P. @ Oct 30th 2007 11:36AM
So your saying it takes more bandwidth to download an hd movie than it does to watch it. I've watched several movies that I've Tivo'd from Showtime HD. How's that any different than picking a movie and allowing it to download to my box overnight?
If they charged $2 a movie to download and watch, right now you could watch most HD movies 12 times before it costs the same as buying one. I can only think of about 20 movies I've watched more than 12 times.
They'll still be a market for disks, but I expect they'll be strong competition from downloadable content.
Smith @ Oct 30th 2007 11:19AM
Doesnt warner own some of the HD-DVD patents???:
"essential patent holders include LG Electronics Inc.; Microsoft Corporation; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; NEC Corporation; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.; Sonic Solutions; Thomson Licensing; Toshiba Corporation; Victor Company of Japan, Ltd.(JVC); and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc."
Find it hard to believe they would abandon a format that they have a stake in.
If warner in fact does Drop support for HD DVD I will be starting a class action suit for all of us who have bought HD DVD players and will be getting screwed.
Kiwi616 @ Oct 30th 2007 11:30AM
Umm nope! WB has stack in at least BD....show some support buddy.
http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6354980
Angus_rg @ Oct 30th 2007 11:33AM
This article has no factual backs, is clearly a interpretation, which if you go on the "affordable" quote, I'd take it to imply HD-DVD.
I don't know if they have any other patents, but the only one I'm aware of is a BR/HD-DVD hybrid disk, which I would guess costs too much to make right now. They are a member of the BR assoc. board of directors which doesn't mean anything about the side they have "chosen". They have an awful lot invested on both sides, and could go either way, assuming they did pick one.
Bottom line, unless a VP says it, it isn't worth considering.
Kevin Murphy @ Oct 30th 2007 11:38AM
Another "HD DVD is gonna die post" on Engadget HD, with the source being a blu-ray function. Then next one that pans out will be the first.
I really don't know how things work at Warner's but in most industries a VP who contradicted corporate policy in public like that would be out on his butt the next day. So, either this is bad/biased reporting by blu-ray supporter Home Media Magazine, or Silverberg has some 'splaining to do.
Segarsj @ Oct 30th 2007 11:39AM
I have to agree with Domerdel.
I don't see them dropping either at this early stage in the game. What little money there is to be had in HD disc media, Warner is laying waste due to their neutrality and their fantastic line up.
I see them moving from neutrality eventually, and when they do I would see them moving to HD DVD for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that they were originally HD DVD exclusive and that they are a member of the newly founded Advanced Interactivity Consortium along with the other HD DVD exclusive studios. Also, as others have been quick to point out, Warner owns some HD DVD patents, therefore it would be extremely counterintuitive to drop HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray.
If anything, it sounds like this "Blu-ray Festival" is a last ditch effort to woo Warner into extending their contract with Blu-ray, but of course that's just speculation, and is very loose.
The bottom line is that Warner stands to make the most money, aside from Disney, this holiday season and while it's not impossible, it would seem unlikely for them to drop either format before the dust settles following the holiday sales rush.
domerdel @ Oct 30th 2007 12:57PM
Segarsj
If it aint broken, why fix it right? Warner is keeping it real by staying neutral.
Your idea that Warner may lean (eventually) to HD-DVD side, I still think is unlikely. HD-DVD fans praised all the items on 300 sold, but the BD discs sold more. Did HD-DVD lose that battle? no, because it catered to the HD-DVD fans, and BD numbers came big.. It's a win/win for Warner. We can't really say what will happen in 2008, post profile 1.1 for BD and production costs going down, it will be close (i'm rootin' for blu!)
Kevin Murphy @ Oct 30th 2007 11:40AM
Chalk this one up to more F.U.D. to try to prevent people from buying those $169 HD-A3's on Black Friday.
http://formatwarcentral.com/index.php/2007/10/30/black-friday-toshiba-hd-a3-hd-dvd-player-16999-sears/
Smee @ Oct 30th 2007 9:09PM
I agree Kevin, this is just more blu propaganda and a knee jerk reaction to HD DVD player pricing.
Traction is definitely with HD DVD at the moment and the sony spin machine is working overtime to try and slow it down, particularly HD DVD player sales.
If this was reported from a neutral venue, then HD DVD would have something to worry about. The fact that it emanates from the spin kings fud party only shows what a joke BR is.
BR/sony only know how to fight one way, and that's dirty, while Toshiba is quietly getting on with the job of massive mass production and distribution.
You keep your lovely little blu fud parties BR, while team red will quietly get on with converting the public to brilliant quality HD at an affordable price.
Warner has clearly said they will evaluate their stand at the end of Q4, lets all have another look then shall we.
In the mean time, i love being the underdog, quality $150 HD DVD players available to the mass market Q4, bring it on.
Sami @ Oct 30th 2007 12:10PM
This is hillarious.
It could as well say: Warner Home Video to support HD-DVD exclusively?
EngadgetHD. You have to shape up from your blu-ray-fanboyism. This is not serious at all.
Interested Watcher @ Oct 30th 2007 1:25PM
Bob P. @ Oct 30th 2007 11:36AM
"So your saying it takes more bandwidth to download an hd movie than it does to watch it."
- No I'm saying on-demand playback anything like equivelent to playing discs is years away.
"I've watched several movies that I've Tivo'd from Showtime HD. How's that any different than picking a movie and allowing it to download to my box overnight?"
- I have an HD DRV myself and it's not always reliable and it is not a true on-demad service (tho I can see why some might claim it's close).
The key word there was overnight (which also assumes you're devoting all your available bandwidth to it).
It's not similar to instant play we have with discs.
"They'll still be a market for disks, but I expect they'll be strong competition from downloadable content."
- ....and I'm not disputing that.
I am saying that the idea that Microsoft want both formats to fail so they can take over with d/l'ed movies is a fantasy out-of-touch with the reality of a vast number of people's connection experience.
Here3 in the Uk for instance a lot of people are on 2gb per month capped serives, there are other services slightly higher than that and then there are the supposedly 'unlimited' services.
One or two (even VC-1) HD movies would eat almost all of the non-unlimited service allowances up.
I suspect the UK is far from alone with that kind of ridiculous provision.
Of course there will still be disc based movies, it's far too convenient and there is a vast infrastructure already existant for it.
The truth is that the 'Microsoft secretly want.....blah blah blah' tale is jut another ludicrous bit of Blu-ray bashing BS
(and Jeez but there has been so much of it).
Chaz @ Oct 30th 2007 1:38PM
like smee has said already, it's just more Blu-Ray spin, interpreting neutral facts into their own kind of propaganda.
If you ask me, it sounded more like "we're with Blu-Ray for now, we cant say much else." And that really doesn't sound positive for Blu.
HD-DVD's higher attache rate = More studios wanting the format to win the format war.
Remember, this is all at 2% consumer adoption. When the studio support was in favor of Blu-Ray, HD-DVD was alive and kicking. With Paramount shifting their strategy, and going HD-DVD exclusive, the gap is steadily closing with support being about equal. That's in combination with the fact HD-DVD players are becoming affordable for "joe consumer." HD-DVD has a smaller installation base, and is closing the gap, what does that tell you? When consumer adoption's at 5 or even 10%, that would presumably put HD-DVD far ahead. And studio's would rather see a quicker finish to a "format" war in favor of profitability. So it's much more likely for WB (which could mean New Line as well), going HD to quicken an end to the existance of two formats.
So in reality, those comments sounded no good at all for team Blu.
reddplague @ Oct 30th 2007 2:00PM
What will all you HD-DVD fanboys say if this is TRUE????.
What will YOUR SPIN be?????.
Someone Please!! tell what movies do the only two studios in the HD camp have coming out this holiday????
Will if compare to Blu-ray????
Xyzzy @ Oct 30th 2007 2:35PM
The same question could be posed to the BD fanboys... If BD loses Warner (and New Line?), then why would Disney and Fox stay on the BD side?
I think if Warner picks a side, the other side will wither up and die, eventually.
James @ Oct 30th 2007 2:33PM
"Someone Please!! tell what movies do the only two studios in the HD camp have coming out this holiday????"
The HD camp has more than 2 studios. Some summer blockbusters are coming out. If you don't know what they are then do some research.
Dave @ Oct 30th 2007 2:36PM
IF Warner goes exclusive either way, I think the format war is over. However, personally, even if Warner went Blu-Ray exclusive, I wouldn't buy into the format until Profile 2.0 players are available for $200. Since you can't even get Profile 1.0 players at that price, it will likely be a long wait. In the meantime, I'd keep renting HD DVD.
Smee @ Oct 30th 2007 9:38PM
If this is true, i will admit defeat and move on.
But until I hear it come from a reliable source HD DVD is very much alive and kicking.
IMHO, the strong links Warner currently has with DVD, HD DVD and Toshiba would make it a much stronger bet that they will eventually side with HD DVD.
It's just more sony spin, and really disappointing that an influential site like this continues to post such unconfirmed fud.
I know I have posted the following link before( so don't belt me) but I thought this would have been a very important article for engadget to post here, because it clearly and 'FACTUALLY' shows sony and the BR group are being deceptive.
It's not so much the content of the article because we have all heard it before, but the intent behind it that consumers SHOULD be, deserve to be, informed about.
I forwarded this factual info to engadgethd but it has been ignored.
http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/sony-blu-ray-specification-deadline
Henning @ Oct 30th 2007 3:26PM
Let's see what he actually said:
One thing that may be changing is our strategy. 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.
Obviously, Warner thinks that people are tired of the format war. They think that consumers no longer want to decide who will win. Who does that leave? It means the studios have to finally up and decide. Warner is the only one who hasn't made a choice, so it looks like Warner thinks it's about time they do. Note that Warner thinks that both Blu-ray and HD DVD players are "affordable" now. He doesn't seem to care the HD DVD players are cheaper. They're both "affordable", which is what seems to count.
Next, in http://www.tvpredictions.com/bluwarner103007.htm it says that "The Warner executive noted that Blu-ray sales have topped HD DVD by a 2-1 margin over the last nine months."
Now, stir these things together. I'll re-arrange for clarity. You get:
1. The people don't want to decide anymore.
2. The people have already chosen (2-1 sales margin in Blu-ray's favour).
3. Now it's time for Warner to decide.
Let the spinning continue...
The Jeremy @ Oct 30th 2007 4:23PM
I can't see Warners going BD exclusive until the BDA gave some sort of compensation concession to them to make up for potential revenue stemming from the IP they own regarding DVD and what would be carried over to HD DVD. Now perhaps if Sony (or the BDA in total) took an equity stake in Time Warner Entertainment and the deal was something negotiated from the top by Time Warner Inc. Chairman Richard Parsons, then I would believe it. It could be structured like the Time Warner deal that Google paid $1 billion for a 5% equity stake in the AOL division to retain Google as the default AOL Search Engine.
Or perhaps the BDA promised a percentage of unit sales to Warner for compensation, much as Microsoft is paying Universal Music Group $1 per Zune sold. Other than that, the only other thing I could think of to get Warner interested in going BD exclusive would be an equity stake in Sony Computer Entertainment (the Playstation division).
The Jeremy @ Oct 30th 2007 4:33PM
Dave,
Why would you wait for Profile 2.0? That's just persistant storage of 1GB and an ethernet link necessary. The PS3 could do that today.
If anything, Profile 1.1 brings BD up to "snuff" with the interactivity features of HD DVD that some people place a lot of importance on, in addition to all of the benefits that BD already brings to the table.
But one thing should become widespread on the BD platform (and even the HD DVD platform). Both Sony and Toshiba (since Toshiba is a partner on it) should bring up the successful yield rates on the Cell processor and then integrate it into all of the Blu-ray and HD DVD players on the market. The PS3's version of the Cell is heralded as having the best DVD upscaling capabilities outside of some of the most expensive specialized decoder chips, plus it is a single-chip multi-core solution to boot which would get cheaper as the economies of scale kicked in. Just add decent firmware to the equation and then all of the players of both platforms would be as easy as the PS3 in terms of firmware updates via either the net or via burnt CD/DVD or flash drive solutions.