Why did HD DVD go after Paramount?

I've thought about this for a while and I'm confused as to why HD DVD snagged Paramount. They were already releasing movies on HD DVD. Yes it took one away from Blu-ray, but added nothing to HD DVD's lineup. I think HD DVD would be doing well today had it went for Fox before they started releasing movies on blu-ray. They knew Fox was having troubles early on and offering them $200 million last January would have probably sealed a deal. They could have started releasing movies a lot sooner as well. They could have taken something from blu-ray and gained a huge catalog.

The format lost because of content and I seriously think Warner would have made the switch to HD DVD if Fox went red (Paramount still being multi-format).

Fox is copy protection crazy.

It was cracked last year

I think they should have gone after Disney. Fox wasn't releasing much on bluray as you mentioned but having super-cheap HD DVD players along with Disney on your side would have been huge.

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It was cracked last year

Yes I know AACS was cracked last year, which is why Fox preferred the extra layer of security protection afforded by BD+ on Blu-ray from the very beginning. I'm sure it was influential in getting Fox onboard at that time.

BTW, Disney is "region" crazy

[Post edited by Skyhawk on Feb 17, 2008]

Paramount had the best box office numbers for 2007 and controls tons of other studios. MTV. Nickelodeon, Comedy central etc...Thats why HD DVD went after them.

But they already had their titles...

Lionsgate was the winner!!! They were nobody's until Blu-Ray came along. 85% of their movies still suck.

Soapflake, I guess they were just trying to get anybody to sign up exclusively because BR already controlled several exclusive studios.

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85% of their movies still suck

I actually like a lot of what's in Lionsgate's catalog.