Warner Rejects Offer!

[JoeSp]

Seems like this is old news. This offer was made to Warner at the same time the offer to Paramount and Dreamworks was made. I guess Warner is making more money being nuetral.

The Digital Bits - Celebrating Film in the Digital Age

 

[navychop]

Gee, I hope that's the end of the story. But somehow I suspect it's not. We'll all suspiciously watch every studio for signs they may defect to "the other side."

I'd be really bummed if any of my pre-orders got canceled due to a defection. I wish a judge would order Paramount to honor their announcements and release the movies they previously announced would be out in Blu-ray. But I guess they're not the first company to change plans and leave people high and dry.

 

[duckydan]

I think the reason Warner rejected the offer was more because it makes no difference in reality. 300's combined sales on blu-ray and HD were still only 1/12th of the total sales of the movie 300 as dvd outsold them both by a mile. That said to reject the $150million is kind of insane as that is more then they will likely make on HD DVD/Blu Ray sales this year.

In response to a judge ordering Paramount to release the discs I don't think it would ever work as they never really promised the discs they gave tentative release dates and then recalled them. Plus, with the exception of Transformers and maybe the Shrek series Paramount really doesn't have any releases worth picking up and from looking at some upcoming releases 2008 doesn't look very promising either (including a bunch of Japanese Horror remakes that should prove to be god awful)

 

[John Kotches]

Seems like this is old news. This offer was made to Warner at the same time the offer to Paramount and Dreamworks was made. I guess Warner is making more money being nuetral.

The Digital Bits - Celebrating Film in the Digital Age

Is this the same digital bits that reported MS as bribing Paramount/Dreamworks to go HD-DVD only? It seems almost like a "let's throw stuff against the wall to see what sticks" approach.

 

[CochiseGuy]

Seems like this is old news. This offer was made to Warner at the same time the offer to Paramount and Dreamworks was made. I guess Warner is making more money being nuetral.

So, let me get this straight -

Last Thursday, Hunt posts this on his 'blog':

9/6/07

Afternoon, folks! We're back as expected today, and I'll tell you, was it EVER nice to get away from all this format war silliness for a week or so. Sarah and I spent time with family, and not once did I bother to check e-mail or even read the trades. And I'm glad of it, because there's certainly been plenty of PR spin and consumer FUD being spread this week out of CEDIA. Both the Blu-ray and HD-DVD camps are working overtime, determined to kick this format war into high gear for the holidays. And having spent the morning catching up with phone calls and talking to our industry sources... if you guys even knew HALF of what was going on behind the scenes this week, you'd be picking your jaws up off the floor. You'd better believe it when we say that the visible public and media relations portion of this format skirmish is only a small part of the full story. It's getting ugly out there, folks.

Then on Friday he posts -

9/7/01

Okay... we're going to save most of the high-def format war discussion for Monday, as we've got a few more release announcements to post this afternoon. We do have a LITTLE bit for you below, but back to that in a minute.
Okay, enough hot topics for this week. We'll be back on Monday to stir up the high-def pot even more.

OK, he leaves us on the edge of our seats over the weekend for his promised Monday 'news' to stir up the high-def pot. And so . . . on Monday he "stirs up the pot" with the LA Times article . . . . which today he is now saying is "old news" -

This offer thing being reported today is apparently old news.
We'll try to have more on this in the next day or two, but despite appearances - and the latest PR spin - there's no been no change in Warner's policy with regard to either high-def format.

"Stir the pot" . . . . "Here we go again: Toshiba has now made a huge offer to get Warner Home Video to do the same" . . . . Oops, never mind - old news . . . . . completely omits ANY reference that Sony/BDA is also making lucrative offers to Warner, referenced in the same LA Times story - Warner Bros., is being courted by both camps .

Bill Hunt has just proved to me

- he doesn't know what's going on anymore than any of us here
- he can be reliably counted to slant whatever news he does get to cast HD DVD in the worst light possible.

Or, to quote myself from another thread here -

'Reliable reporting' and "Bill Hunt & THe Digital Bits" don't even belong in the same sentence.

 

[John Kotches]

Cochise:

In this context; it's bated not baited


We all mess up our homonyms now and again though -- and I've certainly been guilty of that crime on more occasions than I would like to admit

 

[CochiseGuy]

Cochise:

In this context; it's bated not baited


We all mess up our homonyms now and again though -- and I've certainly been guilty of that crime on more occasions than I would like to admit

Thanks, fixed.

he leaves us on the edge of our seats

 

[navychop]

That said to reject the $150million is kind of insane as that is more then they will likely make on HD DVD/Blu Ray sales this year.

This certainly seems to be the case. Short run result = $ in the bank. Long term = ???


In response to a judge ordering Paramount to release the discs I don't think it would ever work as they never really promised the discs they gave tentative release dates and then recalled them.

I don't really expect it, I'm just commenting on the fact they did their customers no good by leading them to expect certain releases and then pulled the plug. Might be just a few customers, but these are the early adopters they need on their side.


Plus, with the exception of Transformers and maybe the Shrek series Paramount really doesn't have any releases worth picking up and from looking at some upcoming releases 2008 doesn't look very promising either (including a bunch of Japanese Horror remakes that should prove to be god awful)

That's the odd thing- why aren't they releasing an utter flood of movies? And they certainly have more good titles than they're releasing. Hoping for greater security?

 

[BobMurdoch]

They are waiting for the player base to reach a greater critical mass..... If each disk costs $100,000 to design and create, then they need more than just a base equal to 1% of viewers to justify the investment.

So they drag out the releases......

I would be buying a lot more movies, but teh catalog titles they have been releasing have been underwhelming.... Oh and WHY won't they release an HD DVD version of the new Serenity DVD.... I would have bought that one, but I already have the original on DVD so it is't enough to make me upgrade....

 

[navychop]

But if they don't invest- they may lose. It would seem the one advantage HD DVD is supposed to have is ease of converting production facilities- they should flood the market with titles. Or maybe they know it won't do any good.

 

[JoeSp]

The cat and mouse game by Sony and Toshiba is aimed at this XMAS. I think we will all see alot of good titles come out on both formats during the last three months -- just in time for XMAS.

 

[vurbano]

Is this the same digital bits that reported MS as bribing Paramount/Dreamworks to go HD-DVD only? It seems almost like a "let's throw stuff against the wall to see what sticks" approach.

Bingo, the bum just needed more hits on his website. Its sounds Oh so reliable

"Okay, we've heard back from Warner Home Video this morning. Once again, the official word on the studio's high-def format support policy is there's no change. As it has for some time now, Warner continues to support both Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Just FYI."


Actually it sounds JUST like Beatboy! (cause you know warner calls this fruitcake with a website regularly. They will call you too if you start one) :haha :haha

 

[JoeSp]

Actually the comments by Bill was based on an article in the LA Times. Seems it was the LA Times that was behind. As Bill's comments were following an article that seemingly was a new report Bill is now getting ribbed for his comments on the article. Bill was not the one pushing the story -- the LA Times was and they are the ones that got the timeline wrong. At least Bill admits the errors and moves on. I haven't seen any retraction by the LA Times article over its inaccurate timeline.

Reminds me of the many supporters of HD-DVD who are still living in September 2006 and calling BluRay over before the format really began. What I would like to know is how many of you HD-DVD guys began licking your chops over the possiblity that Warner would go exclusive to HD-DVD for a one-time payday?

Now if the news for HD-DVD is not positive then so be it. If the news is not positive for BD then so be it. A high def format on disc will only take off when there is one left standing. In order to compete and take over from DVD there has to be one choice. Which ever one that is I will own and enjoy and so will most of you. Right now I support my choice format by buying BD movies -- 50 and counting!! Want your format to win -- spend your dollars where you heart lies.

 

[Derwin0]

I think the reason Warner rejected the offer was more because it makes no difference in reality. 300's combined sales on blu-ray and HD were still only 1/12th of the total sales of the movie 300 as dvd outsold them both by a mile. That said to reject the $150million is kind of insane as that is more then they will likely make on HD DVD/Blu Ray sales this year.

To take a $150million payout to exclusively support a format would likely bring repercussions from the E.U. competition people, who would levy a much larger fine. As Warner does a significant amount of business in Europe, they would want to avoid that happening, especially since the E.U. is already looking into bluray vs. HDDVD deals.

 

[diogen]

...At least Bill admits the errors and moves on.

That is such a rare event for the Phase Hydra trolls that it is worth mentioning.

And talking about admitting errors:

...Reminds me of the many supporters of HD-DVD who are still living in September 2006 and calling BluRay over...

you probably meant this

I'm going to go out in a limb right now and post something that some of you may consider a bit controversial.
But I think the writing is on the wall. I think the format war is over before it's even begun, and the Toshiba/HD-DVD camp is toast.
....
This thing is over. It's done. Toshiba and Warner Bros. just haven't figured it out yet.

posted by Blu Shill Bill in May 2005 when Warner was HD exclusive... Puts things in perspective, doesn't it?
My Two Cents - Archived Posts (5/17/05 - 5/2/05)

No, I don't expect you to "admit the errors and move on"...

Diogen.

 

[JoeSp]

Diogen, I am willing to bet that in XMAS of 08 we will be having these same conversations all over again. There is just too much at stake for either camp to pull up stakes this early in the game.

 

[GaryPen]

It will be over by Xmas '08.

 

[BobMurdoch]

Which is when Paramount's exclusivity deal with the HD DVD camp expires.

I know WHY Bill Hunt is trying to kill HD DVD. He wants one winner to survive quiclkly to give users a reason not to fear obsolescence. I just wish he would have backed the horse that had the most capability for users and not the one instituting a content blackade as its primary reason to ram it through.