Press Relase: Warner Bros. to release on Blu-ray only

Press Relase: Warner Bros. to release on Blu-ray only.
What's New
By Henning Molbaek
FIRST ONLINE Jan 4, 2008

In response to consumer demand, Warner Bros. Entertainment will release its high-definition DVD titles exclusively in the Blu-ray disc format beginning later this year, it was announced today by Barry Meyer, Chairman & CEO, Warner Bros. and Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.

"Warner Bros.' move to exclusively release in the Blu-ray disc format is a strategic decision focused on the long term and the most direct way to give consumers what they want," said Meyer. "The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers."

Warner Home Video will continue to release its titles in standard DVD format and Blu-ray. After a short window following their standard DVD and Blu-ray releases, all new titles will continue to be released in HD DVD until the end of May 2008.

"Warner Bros. has produced in both high-definition formats in an effort to provide consumer choice, foster mainstream adoption and drive down hardware prices," said Jeff Bewkes, President and Chief Executive Officer, Time Warner Inc., the parent company of Warner Bros. Entertainment. "Today's decision by Warner Bros. to distribute in a single format comes at the right time and is the best decision both for consumers and Time Warner."

"A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry," said Tsujihara. "Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray, and we believe that recognizing this preference is the right step in making this great home entertainment experience accessible to the widest possible audience. Warner Bros. has worked very closely with the Toshiba Corporation in promoting high definition media and we have enormous respect for their efforts. We look forward to working with them on other projects in the future."

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Friday, January 4, 2008
Member since:
May 2007
Finally! I waited out the holidays and bought my first Blu-rays on Wednesday with the Amazon BOGO. Will this mean Blu-rays of Batman Begins and the Matrix Trilogy?
[Post edited by mybills on Jan 4, 2008]
Friday, January 4, 2008
Member since:
October 2006
I guess stalling by lying to the consumers paid off.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Member since:
October 2007
I think so mybills. I recently bought a HD-DVD standalone player (have 60+ movies on that format) but now that Warner is going Blu, this means the war is completely over. At least I know I can still play my titles on HD DVD for years to come on the player I bought.

Now it turns out that I have to save up for a Blu-Ray player if I want to keep enjoying HD. A shame that they are still so expensive in Europe....
Friday, January 4, 2008
Member since:
March 2002
As usual, three threads on the same topic!
Friday, January 4, 2008
Member since:
March 2002
Friday, January 4, 2008
Member since:
June 2005
Anyone want to buy my A3? Might as well junk it now.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Member since:
October 2007
WB - you are scum. Instead of waiting and waiting and waiting to do this, and allowing so many consumers to jump in on the HD DVD bandwagon over the holidays, why on earth are you doing this now?

Nice way to piss off your supporters. Should have done that months ago.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Member since:
October 2007
Quote:
Nice way to piss off your supporters. Should have done that months ago.


agreed
Friday, January 4, 2008
Member since:
September 2002
Warner is giving time to HD-DVD owners and others. The HD-DVD support will drop in May which is almost 4 months from now. Do you recall Paramount dropping support immediately? They cancelled all their BD releases with immediate effect. In this aspect, I respect Warner's decision on dropping HD-DVD support 4 months from now.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Member since:
October 2007
Giving time? That is total BS.

There was a huge influx of HD DVD player sales over Thanksgiving and Christmas, which only means more support for the format. What Warner Bros. is doing is screwing all the people that bought into the format recently, because they could have done this last year when HD was in half the number of households.

That doesn't deserve respect. They wait until after the holidays to make this announcement so now people have to go by a totally new player? They just wanted us to buy their movies on BOTH formats. Those scumbags.

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