HD DVD death knell sounds as Warner goes BD exclusive
- Posted January 4th, 2008 at 19:40 EDT by
- 73 Comments
Time Warner's Warner Bros. movie studio announced today that they will no longer produce films in HD DVD format from June 2008 and that they will become Blu-ray exclusive. With this move, Blu-ray will own 70% of the high definition market share, basically putting the nail in the coffin for Toshiba's HD DVD.
“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," stated Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros. "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."
Since Warner Bros. controls 18%-20% of DVD sales in the United States, this should lead to quite the bump in eventual Blu-ray sales. "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," said Kevin Tsujihara, President, of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.
Blu-ray exclusive studios now include:
- Sony Pictures (MGM, Columbia, Tristar)
- Disney (Pixar, Buena Vista, Miramax)
- 20th Century Fox
- Warner Bros. (New Line Cinema)
- Lion Gate Films
Stay tuned for more information.
Update: Apologies, we left out that Warner will continue to release HD DVD titles until the end of May 2008, after which it will become Blu-ray exclusive.
Comments
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snake_eater |
MetalGearHMN- 7:58pm GMT - January 4th, 2008
- 4
Sweet, can't wait untill this crap is over.
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GreyFox666 |
GreyFox666- 8:09pm GMT - January 4th, 2008
- 8
oh yeah... and Blu-Ray takes the lead... that's what i'm talking bout baby...
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incredibilistic
- 8:21pm GMT - January 4th, 2008
- 10
It's no secret that Blu-Ray has had the lead since the beginning and continues to outsell HDead-DVD and it's good to see Warner Bros. base their decision on that rather than a payout.
And even if they took a payout it's still a logical choice. Now it's time for Paramount to own up to their stupid decision, forget about the 18 month exclusivity contract, and go total Blu.
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Staticneuron |
Staticneuron- 8:40pm GMT - January 4th, 2008
- 12
Thank you! All those people trying to say that PS3 owners didn't watch BR's while HD-DVD's stand alone sales were higher should really feel ashamed now. They honeslty said it like they believed in its power. Blu ray has been outselling HD DVD's for pretty much an entire year straight. WB just looked at their returns they do not care how many people have HD DVD in thier homes. If the format is not pulling in as much money as blu ray or even more then there is no point.
I personally think the harry potter with advanced features was the killing blow. I guess WB was hoping for a surge in sales from the HD DVD camp to justify their effort. To bad the consumers have spoken and yet the fanboys well bleat and bray like always.
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BD_BLACKAZZ |
BD_BLACKK- 8:51pm GMT - January 4th, 2008
- 14
the HD WAR is over........ blu ray is the winner
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Dogswithguns |
Dogswithguns- 9:12pm GMT - January 4th, 2008
- 17
Im watching a Blu-ray movie right now.:D
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dericb11 |
ErazerSe7en- 9:24pm GMT - January 4th, 2008
- 19
What makes this great is that when Sony finally win M$ will need a Media Format for there next console. With Sony owning some of Blu-ray they we be paying Sony for each system they sell lol. Not only that they could give them gimp versions of it too!!!
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smokysmoke |
smokysmoke- 9:41pm GMT - January 4th, 2008
- 22
LOL i knew this was gunna happen one time or another... cause blue ray is the BEST!
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Sniperwithacause |
Sniperwithacause- 10:19pm GMT - January 4th, 2008
- 24
@dericb11 Sony doesn't own some of BluRay, they own all of it.
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Shadowforce |
Gordii- 10:51pm GMT - January 4th, 2008
- 31
Reason why they delayed it until end of May is because they have HD-dvd's probably still being made so they have to convert things over plus why not milk the system a little longer :D
Also i am waiting a couple months now before i start a blu-ray collection i mean its a good product but i want them to be the standalone and soon that will happen it looks like.
ME personally i am waitng for Paramount to come over so i can have my Star Trek on blu-ray :D
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Xdeth |
Xdeth- 10:55pm GMT - January 4th, 2008
- 33
Now its only a matter of time before the rest of the studios will follow suit. Warner just offically pulled the life support plug on HD DVD. Beep....Beep...Beep....Beep....BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP
You hear that sound Crashbox3fixme fans? Listen to it because your next.
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Mecha_Daddy |
mecha_daddy- 10:57pm GMT - January 4th, 2008
- 34
By gosh I didn't buy those 50+ Blu ray movies for nothing! Hopefully Paramount and Universal switch by next year (2009). There's a lot more on Blu ray that I'll buy when they get with the program.
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Hyourinmaru |
DAT1AZNPAN- 11:00pm GMT - January 4th, 2008
- 35
dang thats it for hd dvd all we need is paramount n we good
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DeadOnArrival06 |
DeadOnArrival06- 12:21am GMT - January 5th, 2008
- 38
Now with Warner on our side I dont miss Paramont so much. Everything looks better in Blu!!!
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cashville
- 12:52am GMT - January 5th, 2008
- 39
lol....guys the news is on team xbox site...and they think porn industry will save hd dvd...lololol "ALL HAIL SONY"...this is not the 90s ...CD & PORN WILL NEVER SELL......just like ipod killed CD BLURAY KILLZ dvd.....btw So xcrap 360 is not a NEXT GEN SYSTEM AFTER ALL=] løløløl¤
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Stickemup
- 1:19am GMT - January 5th, 2008
- 41
HAHAHAHAHA! Awesome news! About time we get some earth shaking news! I was getting bored with all these boring news all month long. Yeah, something really drastic would have to happen for HD-DVD to come back. Any ideas? I actually don't think it's possible. That makes the X-Box, Non-Gen. M$ is gonna hafta make some new format for the X-Box 720 or whatever the next system is gonna be called. Cause if they use Blu-Ray it's gonna be like bowing down to Sony. Hilarious stuff. Viva Sony!
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BlueSteel18 |
BlueSteel18- 1:26am GMT - January 5th, 2008
- 42
I would rather watch a movie on VHS rather than on HDDVD. Seriously, i am not kidding. I am glad that WB made the decision that we all knew they would make. Now it is time to finally put to rest this format war and move on with BD as the sole HD format. Thanks WB.
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Staticneuron |
Staticneuron- 2:21am GMT - January 5th, 2008
- 43
Ha ha ha! I knew that one thumbs down was gonna show up sonner or later, I swear there must be somebody who really hates this site just lurking in the shadows.
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Nosferatu
- 3:29am GMT - January 5th, 2008
- 47
thats good news and im wondering if microsoft will still considering using hd-dvd for extra capacity for games. But then again they may do a weird move if they added an internal blu ray drive it would just be the most historic jacked up gaming strategic move from an gaming company ever.
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sbooth44
- 4:39am GMT - January 5th, 2008
- 50
I knew that Blu Ray would win the format war when I heard that Sony was going to have their BD drive built in to their PS3 system and knowing that M$ did not have their HD DVD drive built in to their game system... Sony has portrayed more confidence in their BD format than M$ has portrayed to their HD format or they would have permanently built it in to their system... M$ might even offer a BD add-on some time in the future... There has just always been more corporate support for Sony's Blu Ray than for the other format...
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