Of course we’d have to declare a winner to perpetuate a war, right? That’s about what’s happened in the HD DVD vs Bl-ray Disc wars. About two months ago, we blogged that Blu-ray Disc seemed to be the defacto winner, due mostly to the news that Blockbuster had announce that they would only be renting Blu-ray Discs, based on their in-house test marketing. Added to the victory chant was the news that sales for Blu-ray software seemed to be winning. Then HD DVD claimed an equally early victory based on hardware sales, and the fact that HD DVD players are cheaper than Blu-ray Disc players (still true), and so would capture the hardware market.
I think we declared a qualified draw at that point. And if not, we should have. Here’s the latest news from the front:
Two studios have announced they will now exclusively support HD DVD. They are Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG. Paramount Home Entertainment claims they will publish release-day and date as well as catalog titles on HD DVD only. This decision overturns Paramount’s earlier decision to support both formats.
There are now 3 major studios exclusively supporting HD DVD: Paramount, DreamWorks, and Universal. Weinstein Company is also an HD DVD supporter, but has not singled that format out exclusively yet. Paramount also claims that their decision will include all films they distribute by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, DreamWorks Animation, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies, and MTV Films, all under the Paramount Home Entertainment umbrella.
The exception to the rule? Who else but Stephen Speilberg, who hasn’t committed to either format, but Close Encounters was recently slated for Blu-ray Disc release.
Blu-ray Disc is supported, again exclusively, by Sony Pictures, Disney, Fox, MGM and Lions Gate.
There is only one studio actively supporting both formats, and that’s Warner Brothers, with their unique dual-format disc (HD DVD on one side, Blu-ray Disc on the other).
What on earth could cause studios to suddenly cuddle up to HD DVD? Could it be money? Naw…ok, maybe….ok, yes it probably was. The site www.deadlinehollywood.com seems to think that some mysterious backers payed off Paramount and DreamWorks to the tune of $150 million for their exclusive HD DVD jump. The studio’s official comments are not even worth quoting.
Ding…..Round 2…or is it 3…or 4?
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