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Is Fox the reason Warner Bros. chose Blu-ray?

Fox the reason Warner Bros. chose Blu-ray?
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By Henning Molbaek
 FIRST ONLINE Jan 6, 2008
The Wall Street Journal has an article on the Warner Bros. decision to back Blu-ray only. Now, before I continue I want to stress that what you are about to read is purely speculation at this point so please don't take it in any other way.

According to a Wall Street Journal article called "In Blu-ray Coup, Sony Has Opening But Hurdles, Too," Fox may have played a role in the Warner Bros. decision to back Blu-ray only.

"Toshiba was still working hard last week to court Warner and News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox to use HD DVD exclusively. Warner was considering it, people familiar with the matter say, but when it realized Fox wouldn't leave Blu-ray, decided to go with Blu-ray exclusively as well, to bring an end to the format war," said the article.

What this comment also shows is that both sides no doubt have used all means possible to get studio support.

The article also believes that the decision was not consumer based, saying "Even with major studios on board, Sony must still win over consumers to Blu-ray. Consumers were arguably better off with HD DVD technology, which generally cost less to produce, contributing to HD DVD players selling for as little as $99 over the holidays. Meanwhile, Blu-ray players cost about $300 and up -- and movie titles issued in Blu-ray are often sold for twice the cost of a regular DVD."

However, the decision has given Sony a big advantage and puts them in a clear position to win the format war. "For now, Blu-ray gives Sony the rare chance to capitalize on being the creator of a market-dominating tech product -- a status it has rarely known in recent years. In the 1980s, its Betamax videotape format lost to VHS. It failed in an effort to get significant chunks of its technology into the highly lucrative DVD format. More recently, it was outflanked by Apple Inc.'s iPod in the drive to create personal digital music players." the article says.

Lastly, I know that some are thin skinned when it comes to the HD format war but please don't take this as a bias for one or the other format. Simply another view on what happened behind the scenes in one of the biggest technology wars in the last 10 years.

Source: Wall Street Journal.

News Comments ::


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Sunday, January 6, 2008
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Member since:
January 2008
Cheap does not = victory. WB was looking at this from a global perspective. You need to post global numbers and you can clearly see that Blu won.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
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Member since:
January 2008
Shouldn't the title of this article be:

Fox the reason Warner Bros. chose Blu-ray

???
Sunday, January 6, 2008
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Member since:
February 2002
Sorry, of course it should be Blu-ray. Now corrected.

Now, I need another cop of coffee
Sunday, January 6, 2008
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Member since:
January 2008
No worries Just didn't want you to get accused of starting rumors!
[Post edited by funstuff72 on Jan 6, 2008]
Sunday, January 6, 2008
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Member since:
January 2008
Sorry but evil always loses. I thought you people watch movies.
Monday, January 7, 2008
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Member since:
December 2007
Quote:
Sorry but evil always loses. I thought you people watch movies.


The only thing worse than the chaos this caused for HD DVD is the immature chaos it caused in this forum.

It's sad you guys don't even have the guts to post with your real names.
[Post edited by the_dvd_chef on Jan 7, 2008]
Monday, January 7, 2008
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Member since:
March 2002
Quote:
The only thing worse than the chaos this caused for HD DVD is the immature chaos it caused in this forum.


Quote:
It's sad you guys don't even have the guts to post with your real names.


I do! Of course, you don't post your real name, as well.
Monday, January 7, 2008
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Member since:
May 2007
I post with my real initials...and I think Fox must have paid WB $150,000! Well...maybe I don't, but that would be a nice counter-rumour to the Paramount thing.

I don't think Fox was their reason...WB could have decided this on either side of the fence. If they wanted to, WB could have been the reason Fox and Disney would have finally opened their doors to HD DVD if that were WBs choice.

The whole thing's fishy. If I wouldn't have bought that PS3...they probably considered the number of Blu-ray capable households and just figured they may as well go Blu-ray.

It already sounds like an overly Sony world - when people start talking about which "Blu-rays" they have, as if it's a common noun...it just sounds so Sony.

Well, we can always look at this as Sony's chance to shine and show us what they can do with "their" technology...and their studio Monopoly (so long Hollywood, it's been nice knowing you)...and their politicized film bias...oh this should be a big deal for such a nice company like sony, but they deserve it...I've always liked overpriced electronics.
Monday, January 7, 2008
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Member since:
September 2007
The Sony fans have complained that they thought that Paramount and Dreamworks got paid but now it looks like the same is true for Warner.

http://formatwarcentral.com/index.php/2008/01/04/warner-swayed-by-500-million-from-the-bda/
Monday, January 7, 2008
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Member since:
January 2008
Yeah its funny how no one is saying "OMFG WARNER WAS PAID OFF". Paramount also denied being paid off(they still do) and yet no one cared. I wouldnt be surprised if both of them were. The Movie studios are fleecing the BDA and HD DVD Promo group. In 2007 HD movies made a combined $275 million. Thats why studios are accepting payment to go exclusive. If they get paid $175 million to go exclusive for a few years they already made more than half of the total HD movie sales.

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