Were Paramount's Blu-ray movies selling better than their HD-DVD counterparts?

[Blu Tiger]

Were Paramount's Blu-ray movies selling better than their HD-DVD counterparts? Is there sales figures somewhere to back it up? I'm debating on a different forum and a poster said that wasn't true. Any help?

[nhaase]

Their sales followed the trend of Warners (w/ the exception of Planet Earth), BD outsold HD DVD. Pre-orders of Blades of Glory on BD were outpacing those on HD DVD, as well, I will try to find a link.

Addition: Here you go: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom090207/

Go to the last page, then back a couple pages in the High-def section there are the data tables for the high-def videos. The big thing is that Babel is the only Paramount title that is in the top-20 total hi-def sales, with 31,000 sales through August. In the table above that you can see that it has sold just 14,600 on HD DVD, so it then sold 16,400 on BD.

I think Bill Hunt at the bits may have talked about how Blades of Glory had more pre-orders on BD than on HD DVD.

[jermwhl]

And I'm sure Paramount has gotten rid of any such "official" evidence that would be able to prove this point.
BD sales across the boards were 2:1, why would paramount be any different

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by Blu Tiger

Were Paramount's Blu-ray movies selling better than their HD-DVD counterparts? Is there sales figures somewhere to back it up? I'm debating on a different forum and a poster said that wasn't true. Any help?

Paramount's Blu-ray disc sales usually matched the 2:1 overall Blu-ray to HD DVD ratio, on their new releases. The only way to really prove this, is to look at the "Top 10" chart Home Media Magazine puts out each week. Looking back over the last 12 weeks or so, you can see all of the Paramount Blu-ray discs significantly outselling the HD DVD counterparts.

There was also a YTD chart back on 6/24, but Paramount didn't manage to get a title in the Top 10 on either format, so it's not really much help, except to show that Paramount hasn't released a lot of "must-have" titles, period.

[Blu Tiger]

He said the 2:1 sales ratio figure was for blu-ray vs. HD DVD in general, and did not reflect the ratio of Paramount's dual format releases.

[spam.curitiba]

Originally Posted by Blu Tiger

He said the 2:1 sales ratio figure was for blu-ray vs. HD DVD in general, and did not reflect the ratio of Paramount's dual format releases.

If that is the case then that makes the WB blu and dud ratio even bigger for blu

[jermwhl]

Originally Posted by Blu Tiger

He said the 2:1 sales ratio figure was for blu-ray vs. HD DVD in general, and did not reflect the ratio of Paramount's dual format releases.

But you also need to take into account the number of releases. They really didn't release that many titles, so there numbers really don't signify much, but they were in favor of blu-ray nontheless.

[russ]

Past sales had nothing to do with their decision. It was all about future sales. As in: "Do we think that we will sell enough Blu-rays to make $150 million during the next 18 months?" Obviously the answer to that question is "No". Sorry, but you have to sell a lot of discs to gross $150 million, just imagine how many to net $150 million. In the current market, they figured that it would be better to alienate a {relatively} small subset of consumers and pocket $150 million than to keep producing blu-rays for now.

Why are you people still questioning this?

[WickyWoo]

Hard numbers

$34.95 retail let's say

Wholesale $22.71

6,605,020 discs before authoring, pressing, shipping, salaries and advertising

So let's just say 7.5 million discs after expenses

[JadedRaverLA]

Well, here's the recent sales data:

8/26: Disturbia and Shooter (both Blu-ray) ranked in Top 10 overall -- HD DVD versions didn't; Shooter -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD 1.38:1; Disturbia -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD 1.82:1.

8/29: Disturbia on Blu-ray ranked in the Top 10 overall -- HD DVD didn't rank; Blu-ray beat HD DVD for that title 2.16:1.

8/12: Disturbia ranked on both formats -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD for that title 2.04:1.

8/5: Shooter ranked on both formats -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD for that title 1.71:1.

Before that, you have to go back to 6/10, since no Paramount titles made the Top 10 each week on either format for the period.

6/10: Norbit ranked in the Top 10 on Blu-ray -- HD DVD didn't rank; Blu-ray beat HD DVD 2.02:1 for that title.

5/27: Flags of Our Fathers ranked in the Top 10 on Blu-ray -- HD DVD didn't rank; Blu-ray beat HD DVD 1.39:1 for that title

5/13: Dreamgirls ranked on both formats -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD 1.71:1 on that title.

5/6: Dreamgirls ranked on both formats -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD 1.53:1 on that title.

And that's as far back as my data goes.

EDIT: To get this data:
1) Go to www.homemediamagazine.com
2) Click on digital edition
3) The latest week's edition opens up. Change the date in the address bar to the Sunday after the date I've shown above to pull up the digital edition for the week you are looking for.
4) Go in several pages until you find 2 charts showing the Top 10 overall, and the Top 10 Aggregate by Title. Using the data in these two tables you can calculate the ratio of Blu-ray to HD DVD discs sold for any title that has at least 1 version rank in the overall Top 10.

Enjoy.

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by JadedRaverLA

Well, here's the recent sales data:

8/26: Disturbia and Shooter (both Blu-ray) ranked in Top 10 overall -- HD DVD versions didn't, so no idea what the ratio was -- but Blu-ray was ahead

8/29: Disturbia on Blu-ray ranked in the Top 10 overall -- HD DVD didn't rank

8/12: Disturbia ranked on both formats -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD for that title 2.04:1.

8/5: Shooter ranked on both formats -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD for that title 1.71:1.

Before that, you have to go back to 6/10, since no Paramount titles made the Top 10 each week on either format for the period.

6/10: Norbit ranked in the Top 10 on Blu-ray -- HD DVD didn't rank

5/27: Flags of Our Fathers ranked in the Top 10 on Blu-ray -- HD DVD didn't rank

5/13: Dreamgirls ranked on both formats -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD 1.71:1 on that title.

5/6: Dreamgirls ranked on both formats -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD 1.53:1 on that title.

And that's as far back as my data goes.

where did you get your data from? can you provide a link? thanks.

[jermwhl]

Originally Posted by russ

Why are you people still questioning this?

Did you read the OP's question? We're helping him debate an issue in another forum! If you don't like it, don't post! He was asking for some numbers to throw back at the guy!

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by shadblz

where did you get your data from? can you provide a link? thanks.

I'm still calculating the ratios, so it's not quite done yet.

Go to www.homemediamagazine.com -- then click on digital edition. It will open up the latest. Change the date at the top to reflect the Sunday following the date shown to get the edition for that week. Then buried in each magazine are two charts. 1 is a Top 10 overall, with Blu-ray and HD DVD separated; the other is an aggregate by title. As long as one version or the other made the first chart, you can use the two charts to come up with the exact ratio.

Okay, now I'm done. Feel free to check my math if you want, but that should be the sales ratio of every Paramount title where at least 1 version made the overall Top 10 for the week.

[jermwhl]

Originally Posted by JadedRaverLA

Well, here's the recent sales data:

8/26: Disturbia and Shooter (both Blu-ray) ranked in Top 10 overall -- HD DVD versions didn't; Shooter -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD 1.38:1; Disturbia -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD 1.82:1.

8/29: Disturbia on Blu-ray ranked in the Top 10 overall -- HD DVD didn't rank; Blu-ray beat HD DVD for that title 2.16:1.

8/12: Disturbia ranked on both formats -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD for that title 2.04:1.

8/5: Shooter ranked on both formats -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD for that title 1.71:1.

Before that, you have to go back to 6/10, since no Paramount titles made the Top 10 each week on either format for the period.

6/10: Norbit ranked in the Top 10 on Blu-ray -- HD DVD didn't rank

5/27: Flags of Our Fathers ranked in the Top 10 on Blu-ray -- HD DVD didn't rank

5/13: Dreamgirls ranked on both formats -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD 1.71:1 on that title.

5/6: Dreamgirls ranked on both formats -- Blu-ray beat HD DVD 1.53:1 on that title.

And that's as far back as my data goes.

Hey Kidd, throw this post over to him...that should shut him up...LOL

And yea...if you could provide a link for that data to back up Kidd, that would be perfect!

[bhampton]

Hi,

Sorry no data on the question here but I did buy Mission Impossible III this morning. I think buying Paramount Blu Ray discs is funner then ever it just seems so naughty like your getting contraband or something.

-Brian

p.s. I have bought most of my Paramount Blu Ray's after the announcement.
I see no reason not to pick them up, someone will, and I think they will all be back after the 18 months is up.

p.p.s. Don't waste time trying to reason with HD DVD supporters as they don't have a clue.

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by JadedRaverLA

I'm still calculating the ratios, so it's not quite done yet.

Go to www.homemediamagazine.com -- then click on digital edition. It will open up the latest. Change the date at the top to reflect the Sunday following the date shown to get the edition for that week. Then buried in each magazine are two charts. 1 is a Top 10 overall, with Blu-ray and HD DVD separated; the other is an aggregate by title. As long as one version or the other made the first chart, you can use the two charts to come up with the exact ratio.

Okay, now I'm done. Feel free to check my math if you want, but that should be the sales ratio of every Paramount title where at least 1 version made the overall Top 10 for the week.

thanks for the link. I didn't ask for it because i didn't trust you. I thought that when you provide valuable info, you should back it up. and also for the person that started this thread, i am sure that he could use it, to educate some people.

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by shadblz

thanks for the link. I didn't ask for it because i didn't trust you. I thought that when you provide valuable info, you should back it up. and also for the person that started this thread, i am sure that he could use it, to educate some people.

No problem. I didn't think you were challenging it. I just hadn't finished calculating the titles where only 1 version made the Top 10. The math takes a little longer to work out on those titles, so I hadn't had a chance to post link and explanation yet.

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by JadedRaverLA

No problem. I didn't think you were challenging it. I just hadn't finished calculating the titles where only 1 version made the Top 10. The math takes a little longer to work out on those titles, so I hadn't had a chance to post link and explanation yet.

thats cool, just wanted to be more clear about where i am coming from. thanks for the link by the way.

[GasCat]

Where is his proof?

[patrick99]

Originally Posted by russ

Past sales had nothing to do with their decision. It was all about future sales. As in: "Do we think that we will sell enough Blu-rays to make $150 million during the next 18 months?" Obviously the answer to that question is "No". Sorry, but you have to sell a lot of discs to gross $150 million, just imagine how many to net $150 million. In the current market, they figured that it would be better to alienate a {relatively} small subset of consumers and pocket $150 million than to keep producing blu-rays for now.

Why are you people still questioning this?

I don't think anyone is questioning the proposition that Paramount did what it did based on the calculation that $150 million was more than the profit they would make on selling BDs in the next 18 months.