Warner: "We can definitely Talk Blu-ray..We Are Committed to the format"

[hpman247]

Interesting read here. Slightly surprising. Maybe some good CES news for us BD fans.. hmm hmm.

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[mike123abc]

Almost makes you wonder if Warner is mad at Paramount for switching to HD-DVD exclusive. If the totalHD discs do not work out, I wonder if this is an early signal to the BD group that Warner would be open to being a BD exclusive for the right $$.

 

[diogen]

If the quotes were not taken out of context, I'd think Warner is announcing it would entertain offers...
The outcomes are not defined:
- if there are no offers, what will they do?
- can HD "buy" just their neutrality or exclusivity?
- is it "symmetrical"? Does it cost the same for each side?

I think the beancounters are hard at work - how much can be offered to make them move.

Diogen.

 

[randers29259]

Or could they be saying that they will move to blu-ray and drop HD-DVD, go with the format that sells more software. If they drop HD-DVD that may speed up the end of the war.

 

[diogen]

Or could they be saying that they will move to blu-ray and drop HD-DVD...

If they made up their mind, why not just announce it? To tease?

If they drop HD-DVD that may speed up the end of the war.

Very likely.

Diogen.

 

[navychop]

Almost makes you wonder if Warner is mad at Paramount for switching to HD-DVD exclusive. If the totalHD discs do not work out, I wonder if this is an early signal to the BD group that Warner would be open to being a BD exclusive for the right $$.

"Almost?" Paramount claimed to have outsold Warner's 300 in each's first week sales. Doesn't look like that really happened. And TotalHD has been shelved indefinitely, probably never to be seen again. Not sure Warner even needs money to move. I think they seem to feel that two formats approach is holding back their sales. They're 30% of sales now, with their Blu-ray outselling their HD DVD 2:1. After one format wins, maybe many people will get off the fence.

Or could they be saying that they will move to blu-ray and drop HD-DVD, go with the format that sells more software. If they drop HD-DVD that may speed up the end of the war.

Yep. And start the market growth process all the earlier.

If they made up their mind, why not just announce it? To tease?
Very likely.

Diogen.

I have read that their "contract" or "agreement" expires 10/31. Maybe it is "good form" to wait until then - or until after the holiday season is over. Even if, god willing, they move to Blu-ray exclusively (probably soon to be followed by Universal if it happens), they'll no doubt be selling HD DVDs for months to come.

What hasn't been discussed much at this site is the personnel changes that have been occurring at Warner lately. That is what has given many of us over to seeing Warner seriously considering going Blu-ray exclusively.

And don't tell me cheap players are all important. These are players going on multi-thousand dollar HDTVs. And iPod certainly isn't cheap, and it seems to be doing quite well, thank you very much.

 

[teamerickson]

BD group, give us 151 mil and we'll be exclusive with you. Read between the lines.

 

[diogen]

Unless there are real announcements from Warner soon, I don't buy this story.
Shortly after Paramount's departure, Warner's president gave a speech at BDA meeting.
Sort of "State of the Union" address. Despite much stink around it, it never materialized into anything...

Just like all guns were ablaze when Paramount went HD exclusive and even Fox was brought out of hibernation,
the BDA needed a neutralizing event to the sub-$200 HD players popping up all over the place.
Yeah... almost forgot, the pearl "I Do Blu" needed some noise around it so it doesn't sound so stupid...

What possibly can studios - BD members - say during such event?
"I Don't Do Blu"?

Diogen.

 

[randers29259]

Diogen, your sad devotion to HD-DVDs inferior technology has not helped you conjure up disc sales, Blu-Ray is now the ultimate force in the universe.

 

[teamerickson]

Diogen, your sad devotion to HD-DVDs inferior technology has not helped you conjure up disc sales, Blu-Ray is now the ultimate force in the universe.

Don't you mean farce!

 

[diogen]

...Blu-Ray is now the ultimate force in the universe.

It must be true if you say so...

Diogen.

 

[ONUOsFan]

Diogen, your sad devotion to HD-DVDs inferior technology has not helped you conjure up disc sales, Blu-Ray is now the ultimate force in the universe.

Don't be too proud of this technological marvel you have constructed....

I'm generally a BD guy, too, but I couldn't resist

 

[teachsac]

"Almost?" Paramount claimed to have outsold Warner's 300 in each's first week sales. Doesn't look like that really happened. And TotalHD has been shelved indefinitely, probably never to be seen again. Not sure Warner even needs money to move. I think they seem to feel that two formats approach is holding back their sales. They're 30% of sales now, with their Blu-ray outselling their HD DVD 2:1. After one format wins, maybe many people will get off the fence.

I have read that their "contract" or "agreement" expires 10/31. Maybe it is "good form" to wait until then - or until after the holiday season is over. Even if, god willing, they move to Blu-ray exclusively (probably soon to be followed by Universal if it happens), they'll no doubt be selling HD DVDs for months to come.

Warner is not mad at Paramount. Warner and Paramount have a very close working relationship as do Warner and Disney. Warner would follow Paramount before Universal would ever follow Warner into being BD exclusive. There is some very bad blood there. They would wait until they absolutely had to similar to Fox and Disney with DVD.

"Contracts" and "agreements' have NDA. That is why no one can verify how much Paramount was "paid", how much Sony is subsidizing disc replication, how much they offered Universal, Universal's contract expired last December (remember that rumor?) and they were going BD or neutral, etc.

With that said, I'll say the same thing that I said before CEDIA. Warner is not going exclusive any time soon; neither now nor before CES.

And don't tell me cheap players are all important. These are players going on multi-thousand dollar HDTVs. And iPod certainly isn't cheap, and it seems to be doing quite well, thank you very much.

Inexpensive players are important for J6P. They don't spend "multi-thousand dollars" on HDTVs on the likes Pioneer, Sony, Mitsubishi, etc. They spend less than $1000 on Olevias, Vizios, etc. They don't want to spend $500 on a BD or HD-DVD player. While 1080p sets have taken off the past year, most will not accept 24p. Many of those will not accept 1080p. For those sets that do accept 24p, most apply the same 3:2 pull down menu that these BD and HD-DVD players use and convert it back to 60p. No difference. 120HZ displays are just now hitting the market and not all of them do that correctly. The average "joe" has a 1366x768 LCD or 1024x720 plasma in their home.

That is the attractiveness of HD-DVD to the "average consumer". It offers a variety of levels. BD has missed this market posturing "we are better". Until they hit this, they will never win and bring the likes of Warner into their camp exclusively.

S~

 

[JoeSp]

Hasn't Warner's president resigned? Is there not a new guy appointed by Rupert to drive the company. If this is true and it has been stated before that Rupert is a BD guy then maybe Warner is looking at total disc sales. And if all Sony has to do is cough up 151 mil -- then stand back!

However, I don't believe that this is going to happen. Why even go exclusive when you own both markets. Warner is going to own both markets for the forseeable future. They just make great movies generally that most people want to watch.

However, they did say they would be watch disc sales very closely this fall. Hummm, BD keeping the lead over the big release of Transformers might be pushing Warner. Who knows, this could just be coffee gossip!

 

[teachsac]

However, they did say they would be watch disc sales very closely this fall. Hummm, BD keeping the lead over the big release of Transformers might be pushing Warner. Who knows, this could just be coffee gossip!

No. They said they would be watching Q4 sales. This includes players. Either way, I'm set.

S~

 

[diogen]

Same even, different reporter, many of the same quotes and then this

A Warner source said the studio is watching what happens now that Wal-Mart and other big retailers are selling entry-level Toshiba HD DVD players for less than $200, about half what the cheapest Blu-ray player costs. If there is a significant spike in HD DVD software sales, the studio may cast its lot with that format, whereas if there is no real impact, Warner may go Blu-ray only.

This at least makes sense...
High-def DVD battle heats up

Diogen.

 

[r.jones1116]

You all are forgetting that Warner holds patents for HDDVD. So I think they have more interest in HDDVD's success. They are also members of the HDi Consortium. Interactivity is something Bluray doesn't have. Warners BDA membership expires today, haven't seen any reports of them renewing it.

Warner going HDDVD exclusive - possible
Warner going Bluray exclusive - doubtful

 

[diogen]

You all are forgetting that Warner holds patents for HDDVD.

Doesn't mean much...
Toshiba has patents in Cell and makes money off every PS3 sold...

Patent pools ain't as big money makers as they used to be.
MPEG-2 is $2.50 per unit (software or hardware). AC3 in the same ballpark.
VC-1 and AVC are a small fraction of it. And lossless Dolby/DTS you get for free if you license other Dolby/DTS codecs...

Diogen.

 

[FreddyvsJasonvsAsh]

I predict WB will go HD soon

 

[ONUOsFan]

No. They said they would be watching Q4 sales. This includes players. Either way, I'm set.

S~

No, they said they would be watching Q4 software sales. Who cares if players are being sold if it's not driving sales of the software? Warner makes no money off of the players. They want the format that will sell them the most movies.

Forget about player prices... whichever format can offer a consistent near or below $20 price for their movies first will have a huge leg up in this one. I have one DVD player and 250 movies. Paying $100 more for a player would pale in comparison to paying $10 more per movie.