Source: Video Business
Warner Bros. Entertainment this year will begin releasing high-definition titles exclusively in Blu-ray Disc, dealing a severe blow to the HD DVD format.
The studio hopes its decision will help end the format war, and boost the chances of high-definition quickly becoming a vital business. Retailers have long complained that consumers are too confused by two formats to adopt either Blu-ray or HD DVD.
With Warner now in the BD camp, only Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertaiment/DreamWorks will produce and market titles in the HD DVD format.
Warner will be joining other BD-exclusive suppliers Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Lionsgate.
Warner’s shift to Blu-ray becomes effective later this year. All new releases are expected to street in BD and HD DVD through May 2008. However, during those upcoming months, there will be a short lag between the Blu-ray/standard DVD release and the HD DVD release.
According to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group president Kevin Tsujihara, “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. 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 Corp. in promoting high-definition media, and we have enormous respect for their efforts. We look forward to working with them in the future.”
