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emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

From the NYTimes

August 20, 2007
Paramount to Drop Blu-Ray HD DVDs
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 2:56 p.m. ET

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. will offer next-generation DVDs in the HD DVD format and drop support for Blu-ray, further complicating the race between the competing technologies.

Monday's announcement affects the upcoming DVD releases of the blockbusters ''Shrek the Third'' and ''Transformers,'' along with movies distributed by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films.

Movies directed by Steven Spielberg, however, will continue to be released in both formats.

Paramount, which owns DreamWorks Pictures and handles home sales for the separate company DreamWorks Animation, previously released movies in both Blu-ray and HD DVD.

''Part of our vision is to aggressively extend our movies beyond the theater, and deliver the quality and features that appeal to our audience,'' said Brad Grey, chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.

''I believe HD DVD is not only the affordable high-quality choice for consumers, but also the smart choice for Paramount,'' he said.

The competition between Blu-ray and HD DVD has kept confused consumers from rushing to buy new DVD players until they can determine which format will dominate the market.

Until recently, many consumers were able to defer the choice because players have been so expensive. But prices have been slashed by about half -- Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray player now sells for $499, and Toshiba Corp.'s cheapest HD DVD player sells for $299, with both likely to include as many as five free movies as an incentive.

Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, said consumers seeking to switch to high-definition DVDs will be enticed by the movies available for HD-DVD players. He added the lower price for the Toshiba devices will appeal to the family market.

''It's a game-changer, what they're doing, and it's why we decided to throw in with them,'' Katzenberg said.

Standalone HD DVD players have a bigger slice of the market than Blu-ray players. But when you count Sony's PlayStation 3 game console, which comes with a Blu-ray drive, there are more Blu-ray players in U.S. homes.

Rob Moore, president of Paramount Worldwide Distribution, said market data shows that people who own gaming consoles buy fewer movies than those who invest in a movie-only player.

The Blu-ray Disc Association trade group did not immediately return an e-mail seeking comment.

Blu-ray discs can hold more data -- 50 gigabytes compared with HD DVD's 30 GB -- but the technology requires new manufacturing techniques and factories, boosting initial costs.

HD DVDs, on the other hand, are essentially DVDs on steroids, meaning movie studios can turn to existing assembly lines to produce them in mass.

Studios and retailers have been choosing sides in recent months.

With Paramount dropping Blu-ray support, Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. remains the only major studio releasing movies in both formats.

''Spider-Man 3'' will only be available in the Blu-ray DVD format when it is released by Sony Pictures, while people with Blu-ray players won't be able to enjoy the action-thriller ''The Bourne Ultimatum,'' which Universal Pictures will release only in HD DVD.

The Blu-ray format recently got a big boost as Blockbuster Inc. announced it would stock only Blu-ray titles when it expands its high-def DVD offerings this year.

Target Inc., the nation's second-largest retailer, said it will only sell Blu-ray DVD players in its stores in the fourth quarter.

Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures, News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox, The Walt Disney Co., and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer are releasing only in Blu-ray.

Universal, owned by General Electric Co., backs HD DVD exclusively.

garyfritz · Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 12025 Location: Fort Collins, CO

JustGreg · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 3098 Location: Kenosha, WI

It's going to be a major cluster F--- this Christmas shopping season for sure. I wonder how much Quantity on Hand is going to effect the numbers for each format. The winner 'could' be the one who takes the gamble and drastically reduces holiday pricing per unit while increasing production (now) to meet the hoped for demand.

Buying movies as gifts definately sucks now...you have to ask the Intended Receiver what they have for a player...poof goes the surprise.

ecrabb · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:23 pm Post subject:

John, was that Darth's arm that just got lopped off??!!

Here's the Viacom press release for anyone who's interested in the nitty gritty directly from the horse's mouth:
http://www.viacom.com/NEWS/NewsText.aspx?RID=1042073

SC

**kal** · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:26 pm Post subject:

Yeah, this is very interesting indeed and may likely push me to go format neutral (I have a BD player now). At $299 or so for a Toshiba HD-DVD player, why not? They're so cheap...

The bad news like someone else mentioned is that this'll just drag the whole thing on longer... and the longer it drags on the more chance that the whole HD on disc thing will just fizzle out (IMHO) as other than us die-hards, consumers don't like these wars.

Kal

**kal** · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:32 pm Post subject:

Whoa. This is definitely more serious than I thought. Read this article taken from www.thedigitalbits.com from today (makes Microsoft seem almost as evil as Sony Smile

):

Well... the high-definition format war just got more confusing for consumers, and you can thank the hubris of the folks at Microsoft for it. Their HD-DVD format (because I'm sorry, can anyone really say it still belongs to Toshiba at this point?) badly needed a shot in the arm going into the holiday season, and just got it thanks to suitcases full of cash from the Microsoft camp. You ready for this? Here it is:

Microsoft has paid DreamWorks and Paramount so much money that they've decided to join Universal in the HD-DVD exclusive camp. No kidding.

None of the participants in this deal are willing to openly disclose just how MUCH money was exchanged, but the L.A. Weekly is reporting (based in part on a confidential report from media analysis firm Pali Research) that it was in the neighborhood of $50 million in "promotional considerations" for Paramount and $100 million for DreamWorks. I'm sure they're also getting lots of free or discounted VC-1 compression and HDi authoring services, along with prime placement on Xbox Live too. Is anyone else just disgusted by Microsoft's naked, shameless financial influence in this thing? That Hollywood is a greedy place should be obvious to all by now, if it wasn't already. The HD-DVD format can't win any other way than for Microsoft to PAY studios off to stay exclusive. And then they have the balls to claim the Blu-ray Disc camp is involved in antitrust violations. Wow.

I'll tell you, this doesn't change our opinion of the eventual outcome of the format war too much. HD-DVD is never going to win this thing. The best it can hope for at this rate, even with the paid involvment of Paramount and DreamWorks, is to stay in the game. But let's face it... if money has to be involved for HD-DVD to stay in the game, that says a lot right there. And while Paramount and DreamWorks will no doubt earn lots of scorn from the rest of the industry, and they'll each make a couple extra movies with Microsoft's money while their stockholders giggle with glee, eventually business realities will dictate that they'll change their tune again. Unless Microsoft pays them more money still. One wonders if Universal just got another paycheck too.

By the way, if anyone doubts that Microsoft's real reason for involving itself in all this is to slow the adoption of next-generation discs by confusing consumers with a continuing format war so their own Xbox Live service can continue to grow and dominate the movie and TV downloading market, you'd better think twice. Because you can bet that while they'll continue to play at supporting HD-DVD, lots of those brand, spanking new high-def transfers will end up on Xbox Live too and for a lot cheaper than the discs.

Anyway, here's the official press release from Paramount and DreamWorks. And I'd like to call your attention to the final sentence in this press release, because I think it tells you EVERYTHING you need to know about this announcement:

Paramount and DreamWorks Animation Each Declare Exclusive Support for HD DVD

Movies Distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment Including Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Animation SKG, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films to be Released Exclusively in HD DVD Exclusive Program To Begin with Release of "Blades of Glory," Followed by "Transformers" and "Shrek the Third," Films Representing More Than $1.5 Billion in Combined Worldwide Box Office

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) and DreamWorks Animation SKG (NYSE: DWA), each announced today that they will exclusively support the next-generation HD DVD format on a worldwide basis. The exclusive HD DVD commitment will include all movies distributed by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films, as well as movies from DreamWorks Animation, which are distributed exclusively by Paramount Home Entertainment.

The companies each said that the decision to distribute exclusively in the HD DVD format resulted from an extensive evaluation of current market offerings, which confirmed the clear benefits of HD DVD, particularly its market-ready technology and lower manufacturing costs Paramount Home Entertainment will launch its exclusive HD DVD program with the release of the blockbuster comedy hit "Blades of Glory" on August 28th and follow with two of the biggest grossing movies of the year "Transformers" and "Shrek the Third". These three titles alone represent more than $1.5 billion in box office ticket sales worldwide.

"The combination of Paramount and DreamWorks Animation brings a critical mass of current box office hits to consumers with a line-up of live action and animated films that are perfect for HD DVD," stated Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, which is currently the leading studio in domestic box office. "Part of our vision is to aggressively extend our movies beyond the theater, and deliver the quality and features that appeal to our audience. I believe HD DVD is not only the affordable high quality choice for consumers, but also the smart choice for Paramount."

"We decided to release "Shrek the Third" and other DreamWorks Animation titles exclusively on HD DVD because we believe it is the best format to bring high quality home entertainment to a key segment of our audience -- families," stated DreamWorks Animation CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg. "We believe the combination of this year's low-priced HD DVD players and the commitment to release a significant number of hit titles in the fall makes HD DVD the best way to view movies at home."

With the rapid increase of HD TV screens in households, and audiences wanting to enjoy the total entertainment experience, HD DVD has emerged as the most affordable way for consumers to watch their movies in high definition. In addition to pristine quality, HD DVD also offers consumers the chance to personalize the movie-watching experience, to interact with their movies and even to connect with a community of other fans.

Paramount Home Entertainment will issue new releases day and date as well as catalog titles exclusively on HD DVD. Today's announcement does not include films directed by Steven Spielberg as his films are not exclusive to either format.

How do you like THEM apples? Not exclusive to either format? Spielberg's decided his first film on high-def disc is coming out on Blu-ray Disc only. So what do Paramount and DreamWorks do? They bury that little factoid at the tail end of their press release. Nice. Okay, Spielberg hasn't made any kind of public statements to that effect that he supports only Blu-ray. But why then isn't Universal able to release any of his films on HD-DVD? Why then does this deal with Paramount and DreamWorks NOT include Spielberg titles? Because Spielberg wouldn't allow it is the only thing that makes any sense.

I'll tell you what... I'm betting Fox and MGM start making Blu-ray Disc exclusive announcements and soon. You just watch. The reaction will be swift...

Stay tuned...

Bill Hunt, Editor
The Digital Bits
billhunt@thedigitalbits.com

ecrabb · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:35 pm Post subject:

I think there's WAY too much money at stake here for this to "fizzle out", Kal. I've explained before why this situation just isn't anything like the DVD-A/SACD situation.

While it's true it would be best for one side or the other to cave (at least in terms of the speediest adoption), there is another option besides both of these next-gen formats just fading away: Both could just coexist. I know it seems a little unlikely, but why not?

Lots of of software developers publish software for both Mac and Windows. Why not two home playback formats? I haven't heard a single good reason that explains why the two couldn't both succeed, albeit in smaller numbers than DVD. What do you think?

SC

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

Viacom didnt want to pony up the cash to produce Blu ray, they want to capitalize on their 2 big summer movies, Transformers, and shrek3. They will earn more cash w/ HD-DVD than BR. So they made this decision.

The other big studios are still in the B/R camp and the big films w/ still release in B/R.

Pixar, Disney, 20th Century, Sony and MGM. Compared to those folks, SKG/Dreamworks is small potatoes.

Darth is doing fine, Search your feelings, you know this to be true!

ecrabb · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:53 pm Post subject:

I didn't say Darth wasn't OK. I just think he just got his arm lopped off. Smile

SC

**kal** · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:54 pm Post subject:

VideoGrabber · Joined: 09 Apr 2006 Posts: 933 Location: Michigan

Kal commented:
> I think with two formats it'll never get the market penetration we need to replace DVD <

If you mean 2 player formats, I'd agree completely. The plain fact is that most "normal" households will NOT buy 2 incompatible players, and the majority won't buy even one, when it means locking themselves out of all the movies in the other format. Doh.

OTOH, 2 media formats could co-exist without any problems at all, if there were reasonably-priced full-featured dual-format players available. 99%+ of people don't care whether the disc is blue or red... they care whether they can take a movie home and watch it. The blue team is just starting to reach the "reasonable" pricing for their standalones. Unfortunately for them, the red team is much farther along on their cost-cutting curve to cheap players, making blue still the "expensive choice". And combo-players aren't going to be any cheaper than blue-only units, which will repress their sales. That's the rub.

I think it's pretty obvious what will happen, and it's not the result that either team wants to see. Neither one will "win", and all their bickering, squabbling, lying and deception will do nothing more than turn consumers off, and impede adoption of either format in the mainstream. SD-DVD will remain the king for years to come. Eventually the CE manufacturers will wake up to the fact that they'll never sell the mass volume of single-format players that they want, and move exclusively to combo players. Single-format players (of either team) will be dinosaurs that no one wants to be hobbled with, and landfills everywhere will get massive new donations. Sad

ecrabb · Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 10:36 pm Post subject:

Wow, it's sure doom-and-gloom over in the BD forums. From some of the comments, you'd think the war was over - and they lost. Some of them are pulling out the "I'm never buying another @#$@%! Paramount/Dreamworks movie again!" comments, there are a few the "That's it, I'm going back to DVD until this is sorted out" remarks (WTF?), while some are just lamenting the war being extended and see HD-DVD as an extension of the Microsoft hegemony.

I have to admit it is kind of fun to see the BD fanboys get a taste of the medicine after all the smugness about Disney exclusivity and HD-DVD sales numbers for the last six months. It will be fun to see what effect this move has on the industry, and sales numbers in general.

I don't really care that much to be honest. I don't like Sony, but it isn't enough to keep me from buying a player if there were one in my price range. There are a few BD movies I'd like to have and watch in my HT... I'll really want a BD player when or if the Pixar films start coming out. Unfortunately, I have no interest whatsoever in spending $600-800 for a BD player.

I just can't see any mass adoption of either side's content until the players are under $200 (HD-DVD isn't far off) and the new-release content are regularly on sale at Target and BestBuy for $20... right alongside the DVDs.

SC

Tom.W · Joined: 09 Mar 2006 Posts: 6637

Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures, News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox, The Walt Disney Co., and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer are releasing only in Blu-ray.

Looks like they won't be getting any money from me . Just wonder how much they are willing to lose ...

Z-Photo · Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 1:02 am Post subject:

they can keep Shrek the third - it sucked big time...

wipron · Joined: 09 May 2006 Posts: 50 Location: Minnesota

Kal

Did you think that post from the digitalbits was a bit biased? I guess its OK if SONY buys off studios, but if TOSHIBA (MS) does it, it must be EVIL.

BTW HD-A2 on Amazon for $238. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??????????????

Tom.W · Joined: 09 Mar 2006 Posts: 6637

Bet the studios eventually fold and support both formats . Only because there is money involved . Pete ya got that right ! Wink

**kal** · Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 3:24 am Post subject:

jask · Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 10165 Location: kamloops BC

I have never heard a convincing argument for one format,this is like saying consumers must chose one gaming system.Competition in early development drives advancement and innovation. Microsofts plan to have a lot more involvement in the future of entertainment,distribution,drm and copy protection so it is not that surprising to me.

VideoGrabber · Joined: 09 Apr 2006 Posts: 933 Location: Michigan

wiprom commented:
> Did you think that post from the digitalbits was a bit biased? <

Just a bit? Wink

Personally, even though I'm a huge supporter of HD, and value the best in PQ and AQ, I'm getting sick to death of both the press releases (by both teams) and so-called "reporting" by the news media. I expect PR to be biased (after all, they're presenting the spin for their team), though usually not so eggregiously deceptive and misleading. What I DON'T expect is biased reporting from the news media, and I've seen plenty of that. Where the hell is the unbiased reporting of the facts?

This latest example is particularly disturbing. I've read The Digital Bits for some time, and gotten some good info there. But this blatant fan-boyism has completely destroyed any credibility as a reporter that Bill Hunt ever had. They should have a disclaimer at the top of every article, that reads "We're Blu-ray fan-boys, hate Microsoft with a blind passion, and anything we write will be slanted to make Sony look good, and Toshiba look bad. We'll strive at all times to present only one side of the story." But then, that's pretty unnecessary, when all you have to do is to read the above "report" and it's painfully obvious.

I'd like to find an information source that hasn't picked a side, and can report the news even-handedly, in an unbiased manner. Bill is all up in arms about "Their HD-DVD format badly needed a shot in the arm going into the holiday season, and just got it thanks to suitcases full of cash from the Microsoft camp." Wow! sounds kinda like a drug deal going down. Yet he was strangely silent about Sony paying Target to put Blu-ray players on endcaps in their stores. Hmm. Now if Target thought they could sell Blu-ray players, they'd have them there already. Even Sony isn't expecting significant sales from their presence at Target. What they did do though is immediately capitalize on the agreement with press releases, implying that Target had made a choice of some kind. Which was, of course, the whole point of the exercise.

Even the mainstream is constantly reporting misleading and false information. Gary Gentile, who writes for AP, recently penned an article that's been picked up and reprinted in on-line and print media (one example here), that starts out even-handed, but winds up regurgitating more of the same old tired crap.

"In terms of discs sold, Blu-ray has always had the lead." Really? Even before they had any discs out, and Toshiba did? Fascinating. "Blu-Ray is getting an even bigger boost as Blockbuster Inc. announced it would stock only Blu-ray titles when it expands its high-def DVD offerings this year." Deceptive, since it implies HD-DVD is being dropped, which isn't the case at all. "Target, the nation's second-largest retailer, said it will only sell Blu-ray DVD players in its stores in the fourth quarter." Actually, not Target saying that, it was Sony proclaiming it loudly. It wouldn't benefit Target at all to make an announcement of that sort.

He even repeats the lie about the demise of DVDs, "The stakes couldn't be higher for Hollywood, which has seen sales of traditional DVDs, once a reliable profit engine, slow to a trickle." Sales of DVDs have NOT slowed to a trickle, and I'm tired of reading that over and over again. The fact is that DVD sales are higher now than they've ever been! All that's happened is that DVD sales aren't skyrocketing up any longer at the continuous growth rate of 20%/year they once enjoyed. Oh my god! DVD sales went up by only 10% last year! The sky is falling!! The stupidity and rampant greed in our society is amazing. A company that makes a billion dollar profit this year is considered a poor performer, if it already made a billion dollars last year. "Where's the growth, dammit? That's just stagnant."

Maybe Sony and Toshiba will duke it out long enough that the market will leave them both out in the cold, and bypass the shiny discs completely. Being able to watch anything you want, any time you want, on demand from someone elses vast library, is a lot more attractive and convenient than stockpiling shelves full of your own physical copies, many rarely watched.

VideoGrabber · Joined: 09 Apr 2006 Posts: 933 Location: Michigan

By the way, in case I wasn't clear in my posting above (I got sidetracked a bit Smile

), I'm thoroughly disgusted by this particular article by Bill Hunt, which I think is one of the slimiest pieces of yellow journalism it's ever been my displeasure to read.