Universal's Kornblau wants format war to continue

[4K display]

Hollywood in Hi-Def
Hmm...Didn't I say earlier I was so sick of...
If Kornblau and Graffeo are so infatuated with "consumer friendly" pricing then why haven't they lowered their software prices? Who wrote this "Studio get fat while CE bleed" motto? If Universal had followed the same "consumer friendly" pricing of their hardware partners their titles SRP would be under 20 bucks...

[phil]

Thank You For posting this, will answer alot of my questions and add to my interest of the whole thing.

[phil]

I agree with this "the hi-def format war has been "the very best thing that ever happened for consumers, retailers, and, frankly, studios" -- because it has driven prices down further and far more quickly than would have been the case if there had been only one format in the market."

I mean that's a pro! Right now I'm paying between 20-25 dollars for my Blu Rays and if there was only Blu Ray I bet it would be way higher like 30-40. I mean DVD's were this high at one point even VHS back in the day. Competition is a good thing, it's what makes are marketplace unique right?

But wow think of all the people that are going to laugh at our faces when they buy their players for 200 dollars. I suppose I'll have my Movie Collection.



"In the meantime, I guess those customers who are already choosing Blu-ray will have to live without hi-def versions of "Knocked Up," "Evan Almighty" and "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" for awhile."


Like I, you, or anyone should even care LoL

[Blu_J]

Originally Posted by phil

I agree with this "the hi-def format war has been "the very best thing that ever happened for consumers, retailers, and, frankly, studios" -- because it has driven prices down further and far more quickly than would have been the case if there had been only one format in the market."

I mean that's a pro! Right now I'm paying between 20-25 dollars for my Blu Rays and if there was only Blu Ray I bet it would be way higher like 30-40. I mean DVD's were this high at one point even VHS back in the day. Competition is a good thing, it's what makes are marketplace unique right?

But wow think of all the people that are going to laugh at our faces when they buy their players for 200 dollars. I suppose I'll have my Movie Collection.

Though I don't agree with some of your other POVs (Warner Neutrality) I do agree with the prices being driven down quick and low. I do however feel Blu-Ray is in a well enough position to gain mass acceptance if it were the only HiDef format. Although if player prices were a bit lower, it would certainly help said acceptance.

[4K display]

Originally Posted by Hettrick

With Universal the only holdout in sticking with HD DVD exclusively, Kornblau reluctantly concedes that HD DVD's position is just fragile enough that if Universal decided to release in Blu-ray now, it would have a serious, if not life-threatening impact on the future of HD DVD.

SO FRAGILE in fact, they continue to pretend JAPAN doesn't exist.

[phil]

Well the whole Warner thing is not my opinion, as a Blu Ray User I didn't like it, but at the same time I think Warner was making more money overall by going Neutral. I think Universal has always been a second rate studio when compared to Warner. Really I think Universal hasn't really been in the spotlight for a while (this year is not a hot year for Universal he even admits it in the article) But they are in the spot light right now with this Format War and are feeling the power and are probably enjoying it in their own sick demented way. So once he gets off this high stool of his, I'm sure we'll start seeing some Universal Flicks on Blu Ray. Can't say I would buy anything though, and I wouldn't even be in a mad rush to pick anything up but you know... Whatever...

[Blu_J]

Originally Posted by phil

...I'm sure we'll start seeing some Universal Flicks on Blu Ray. Can't say I would buy anything though, and I wouldn't even be in a mad rush to pick anything up but you know... Whatever...

If they can work out some of those quality issues they've been having, once they do release on Blu I will be extremely happy. They have an extensive back catalog of films I am frothing at the mouth to get my hands on.

[bwillcox]

Originally Posted by phil

I mean that's a pro! Right now I'm paying between 20-25 dollars for my Blu Rays and if there was only Blu Ray I bet it would be way higher like 30-40. I mean DVD's were this high at one point even VHS back in the day.

Not sure where you were buying your DVDs in the beginning, but when I started buying them in '97 I was paying $15 - $20 for most of them. VHS tapes were either real expensive ($80-$100) or cheap ($15-$20) depending on the anticipated popularity of the title and whether the studio thought they could sell alot of them (sell-through market) make sufficient profit with the lower price, or they would be mostly rentals (higher price to maintain profitability).

Originally Posted by phil

Competition is a good thing, it's what makes are marketplace unique right?

I agree that competition is a good thing, but format wars are not just about competition. They also slow adoption rates and can lead to no winner at all. (Look at the competing high-def audio formats, DVD Audio and SACD, both formats lost and are pretty much religated to niche status now.)

If there is no winner, we may be left with only lower quality downloads (wideband bit rates being what they are, 50GB seems like it will be too much for some time to come in most places). Besides, I'm a collector by nature. I like to collect things and have been collecting CDs, SACDs, DVDs, and now BDs for a long time. Downloading movies (or music) to a hard disk that is going to fail (they all do eventually) simply doesn't appeal to me personally.

[jdsanko]

I believe Universal has signed some sort of deal to remain HD-DVD only. When this deal ends, Universal will go neutral. I don't believe the powers to be will ignore reality/$'s beyond that point.

With their current mostly poor showing at the box office, they have not been hurt too much to date. Hoewever, "The Bourne Ultimatium" has the potential to be as big if not bigger than "300". Based on the sales split of 65/35 (which pretty much mirriors the current market share) Universal could increase sales by 186% by publishing on both formats (by 86% just by going BD exclusive). If the trend contiues with BD having better long term legs, this will be even greater.

Regarding cheaper hardware, I don't believe anyone is making any money on the hardware, especially Toshiba. I will be very surpirsed to see any Chinese HD-DVD units as they can't make any money at current prices. If they jump in, it will be with BD because of the market share advantagae that will continue to grow and the fact that the BD folks have left more pricing room to work with.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by 4K display

Hollywood in Hi-Def
Hmm...Didn't I say earlier I was so sick of...
If Kornblau and Graffeo are so infatuated with "consumer friendly" pricing then why haven't they lowered their software prices? Who wrote this "Studio get fat while CE bleed" motto? If Universal had followed the same "consumer friendly" pricing of their hardware partners their titles SRP would be under 20 bucks...

And the one thing nobody's mentioned so far:
Uh, Scott, if he's so self-incriminating a witness for the prosecution...HOW ABOUT SHUTTING UP, PRINTING THE INTERVIEW, AND LETTING HIM SAY IT, FOR A CHANGE???

My Fox-News alarm started going off at about the forth or fifth third-person "Oh, and here's another thing he said to me in an interview" summary--Mostly arising out of my whole frustration with HollywoodinHiDef in general...Scott, you're embarrassing us! >_<
The site only came out because one of the major Home Theater Forums (not sure if it was the HTF, but one of them) was sponsored by the Toshiba HD people, and Scott he thought he had to schoolyard-fight Evangelism with Evangelism--
Despite the fact that most grown-up Blu fans are now trying to shout down the gamer-boyz and start some rational mainstream discussion going about why Blu is winning, and the last thing we need right now is more spin-doctor "Neener-neener, look at all our pie graphs, HD's are poopy-heads! "

(Or maybe I've just been too traumatized by JimHillMedia.com's latest Fox-News crusade against Pixar, I'm in the last possible mood to read "Wishful Thinking" news blogs when I'm looking for real industry information.)

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by EricJ

And the one thing nobody's mentioned so far:
Uh, Scott, if he's so self-incriminating a witness for the prosecution...HOW ABOUT SHUTTING UP, PRINTING THE INTERVIEW, AND LETTING HIM SAY IT, FOR A CHANGE???

It really is a blog. The site is not Reuters. Hence, he can write it that way. In fact, I don't think he ever wrote strictly news from the start. Regardless of the rantings you personally did not like, he DID quote Kornblau enough. I don't think I need to hear what he has to say anymore about the matter. GE is going to handle that.


fuad

[JTK]

Originally Posted by EricJ

And the one thing nobody's mentioned so far:
Uh, Scott, if he's so self-incriminating a witness for the prosecution...HOW ABOUT SHUTTING UP, PRINTING THE INTERVIEW, AND LETTING HIM SAY IT, FOR A CHANGE???

Your Ritalin starved rant post notwithstanding, I can swim through it and I agree with this criticism.

This is the largest and most common criticism I've seen of the entire piece:

Instead of a lot of paraphrasing and hearsay, I'd like to see that entire interview posted word for word, with direct quotes always when possible.

That just should be a general rule of thumb.

My Fox-News alarm started going off at about the forth or fifth third-person "Oh, and here's another thing he said to me in an interview" summary--Mostly arising out of my whole frustration with HollywoodinHiDef in general...Scott, you're embarrassing us! >_<
The site only came out because one of the major Home Theater Forums (not sure if it was the HTF, but one of them) was sponsored by the Toshiba HD people, and Scott he thought he had to schoolyard-fight Evangelism with Evangelism--
Despite the fact that most grown-up Blu fans are now trying to shout down the gamer-boyz and start some rational mainstream discussion going about why Blu is winning, and the last thing we need right now is more spin-doctor "Neener-neener, look at all our pie graphs, HD's are poopy-heads! "

(Or maybe I've just been too traumatized by JimHillMedia.com's latest Fox-News crusade against Pixar, I'm in the last possible mood to read "Wishful Thinking" news blogs when I'm looking for real industry information.)

Way too much going on here. Not going to touch it. Go talk to someone or get help or something.

[ussrelativity]

At this point, I've had it with Universal. If they want the format war to continue, fine. All I need is for the Blu-Ray players to drop some more and then they will have a problem touting price as their advantage. By the 4th quarter, Fox should be back and then we will finallly win this thing.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by ussrelativity

At this point, I've had it with Universal. If they want the format war to continue, fine. All I need is for the Blu-Ray players to drop some more and then they will have a problem touting price as their advantage. By the 4th quarter, Fox should be back and then we will finallly win this thing.

Agreed. I also fully agree with your sig as well.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by JTK

Your Ritalin starved rant post notwithstanding, I can swim through it and I agree with this criticism.

This is the largest and most common criticism I've seen of the entire piece:

Instead of a lot of paraphrasing and hearsay, I'd like to see that entire interview posted word for word, with direct quotes always when possible.

That just should be a general rule of thumb.

The lack of direct quotes or interview form makes it sound as if he just got passing comments in a phone conversation or quick five-minute grab between EMA or ComicCon sessions--
Which is okay for a sound-bite, if it's identified as a passing comment, but a little disingenuous to pass off as sweeping Pronouncements for the Industry.

(But--now that cooler typing-fingers prevail--can we still get a few shoutouts for Blu-fans who are embarrassed by HiHD's "We can do it too!" attempts to out-Ken Graffeo the HD blogs, or at least have enough spin-skepticism to stop posting everything HiHD says as "Good news for the industry"?
Like I said in the other thread, Blu fans should be taking the high road at this stage, and the site is exactly the kind of low road we should be running away from at top speed.)

[JTK]

Originally Posted by EricJ

The lack of direct quotes or interview form makes it sound as if he just got passing comments in a phone conversation or quick five-minute grab between EMA or ComicCon sessions--
Which is okay for a sound-bite, if it's identified as a passing comment, but a little disingenuous to pass off as sweeping Pronouncements for the Industry.

(But--now that cooler typing-fingers prevail--can we still get a few shoutouts for Blu-fans who are embarrassed by HiHD's "We can do it too!" attempts to out-Ken Graffeo the HD blogs, or at least have enough spin-skepticism to stop posting everything HiHD says as "Good news for the industry"?
Like I said in the other thread, Blu fans should be taking the high road at this stage, and the site is exactly the kind of low road we should be running away from at top speed.)

Here's the real trick to the whole thing: If the interview is a bunch of garbage then we should be seeing or hearing about Kornblau himself going ape@#$% on someone and/or issuing some kind of clarification or statement of some kind.

Obviously I can't imagine someone like him sitting idly by if he felt like he was being misrepresented in some manner.

So that'll be something to watch out for, I guess.

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Is it a moving target?

The PS/3 was reduced $100. The second gen Sony is $500 less than the first.

Is the real demand that a Blu-ray player be priced like an HD DVD player?

And when profile 1.1 comes out, will he then say he won't do it because less than 100% of players support it?

Gary

Feels like a moving target. The movement being: "We really are going to look for every last excuse known to mankind to not support Blu-Ray, even if we have to make up reasons outright."

^^ That's what it looks like, anyways.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by JTK

Here's the real trick to the whole thing: If the interview is a bunch of garbage then we should be seeing or hearing about Kornblau himself going ape@#$% on someone and/or issuing some kind of clarification or statement of some kind.

Obviously I can't imagine someone like him sitting idly by if he felt like he was being misrepresented in some manner.

So that'll be something to watch out for, I guess.

Two problems, though:
A) Overstatements, definitely, but as long as Kornblau claims he said the quotes, and that he'd had the conversation with Hentrick (however brief), there's not much ground for legal retraction,
and/or
B) Scott/HiHD may have sunk to the point that the HD folk don't even consider it an industry "threat" anymore, and simply another nutso fan-community infomercial, albeit a slick big-budget one.

(Which it essentially is, except that it first went around bragging its corporate and studio connections, and now third-party industry news people are still under the delusion it really IS some kind of news site, as opposed to fan-blog.
It would be nice if we did have some other more actual industry/press-authorized fair-and-balanced Blu-related site as backup, but Scott's Nyah-Nyah Site got all the press first.)

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by EricJ

The lack of direct quotes or interview form makes it sound as if he just got passing comments in a phone conversation or quick five-minute grab between EMA or ComicCon sessions--
Which is okay for a sound-bite, if it's identified as a passing comment, but a little disingenuous to pass off as sweeping Pronouncements for the Industry.

It's a blog entry. An editorial.

Since when are editorials required to have news story structure and fairness?

Gary

[marzetta7]

Originally Posted by EricJ

The lack of direct quotes or interview form makes it sound as if he just got passing comments in a phone conversation or quick five-minute grab between EMA or ComicCon sessions--
Which is okay for a sound-bite, if it's identified as a passing comment, but a little disingenuous to pass off as sweeping Pronouncements for the Industry.

(But--now that cooler typing-fingers prevail--can we still get a few shoutouts for Blu-fans who are embarrassed by HiHD's "We can do it too!" attempts to out-Ken Graffeo the HD blogs, or at least have enough spin-skepticism to stop posting everything HiHD says as "Good news for the industry"?
Like I said in the other thread, Blu fans should be taking the high road at this stage, and the site is exactly the kind of low road we should be running away from at top speed.)

Why? Should we be like the British, stand in a line and wait for the colonists to blow us away by hiding in the brush and behind trees? War is war my friend. In it, you'll find that these types of roads, high or low, get blurred, and winning becomes a focus.

Besides, I don't find anything within this article that would be considered a low road.

[WickyWoo]

It's a blog entry. An editorial.

Since when are editorials required to have news story structure and fairness?

Since certain elements in this country have spent the last 30 years or so programming the american people that it's not journalism unless it's stenography, and gives equal time to all sides, no matter how inhumane, laughable, cruel, violent or otherwise they may be. They find analysis very threatening