AP: Hollywood execs clash on formats

[patrick99]

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_6928984

[evo_dadi]

Originally Posted by patrick99

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_6928984

thats whay i support disney all the time

[E-Dogg]

Originally Posted by patrick99

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_6928984

For all those that were worried that Disney would go neautral, there is your proof they stand behind Blu-Ray 100%.

[Proteus]

Well.. If the Viacom COO said what the article states to his shareholders at the meeting, he pretty much stated that the decision was a stupid one. If they were truly in belief that one format would be beneficial in the long run, they would have chosen the format that was already leading the race by over a 2:1 margin so as to hasten the adoption and end the war sooner. Instead, they went the route of uninformed and showed that they lack any understanding of marketing at all when falling back on the 'price' argument. What about manufacturers (sorry, one is not enough)? What about % film support (sorry, 14% from Universal is not enough)? What about all these things?

The truth is Viacom did not consider any of this. They simply took the money and now they are being called on it and coming back with poor answers that are further affirming their lack of vision and economic planning in their business decisions. Frankly, had Viacom not made this move they would have made _far more_ than the $150 million by Xmas 2008 due to the insanely large adoption rate that would begin to occur as soon as Xmas 2007. The war would have been over before the holidays in 2007 even. They really screwed things up.

[glenn22]

Originally Posted by E-Dogg

For all those that were worried that Disney would go neautral, there is your proof they stand behind Blu-Ray 100%.

For all those worried that Disney would go neutral... have your head examined.

[bferr1]

Visions of the vicious gang battle from Gangs of New York flashed in my mind.

[TruBlu2]

Originally Posted by Proteus

Well.. If the Viacom COO said what the article states to his shareholders at the meeting, he pretty much stated that the decision was a stupid one. If they were truly in belief that one format would be beneficial in the long run, they would have chosen the format that was already leading the race by over a 2:1 margin so as to hasten the adoption and end the war sooner. Instead, they went the route of uninformed and showed that they lack any understanding of marketing at all when falling back on the 'price' argument. What about manufacturers (sorry, one is not enough)? What about % film support (sorry, 14% from Universal is not enough)? What about all these things?

The truth is Viacom did not consider any of this. They simply took the money and now they are being called on it and coming back with poor answers that are further affirming their lack of vision and economic planning in their business decisions. Frankly, had Viacom not made this move they would have made _far more_ than the $150 million by Xmas 2008 due to the insanely large adoption rate that would begin to occur as soon as Xmas 2007. The war would have been over before the holidays in 2007 even. They really screwed things up.

EXACTLY, well put. Viacom really made a blunder decision and now the are rationalizing their stupidity.

They blew it, someone will be fired.

[joeorc]

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch told the conference his company believes Blu-ray is the superior format."The public can tell the difference," Murdoch said.

this is the first time i can remember Rupert makeing a comment about Blu-Ray..
this is Quite telling. and as for Disney..this is also QUITE telling Disney is sticking with BLU-RAY.



so that's FOX, AND Disney both BACK Blu-Ray both Studios see Blu-Ray as the Format that they choose. i guess thats why they are still on the BDA Board of Directors.

[Zaphod]

I want to know what the Oracle of Omaha thinks!

That man can't pick a loser even if he tried!

[reiella]

Originally Posted by joeorc

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch told the conference his company believes Blu-ray is the superior format."The public can tell the difference," Murdoch said.

this is the first time i can remember Rupert makeing a comment about Blu-Ray..
this is Quite telling. and as for Disney..this is also QUITE telling Disney is sticking with BLU-RAY.



so that's FOX, AND Disney both BACK Blu-Ray both Studios see Blu-Ray as the Format that they choose. i guess thats why they are still on the BDA Board of Directors.

The Murdoch comment surprised me, and makes me wonder where it came from.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by reiella

The Murdoch comment surprised me, and makes me wonder where it came from.

it says in the link above that this quote was taken at the :

"investor conference in New York sponsored by Goldman Sachs."

Murdoch was there at the event .

[calidan]

iacom CEO Philippe Dauman told investors at the same conference that the decision to switch was made because HD DVD players were more affordable. He also said Paramount decided it made more long-term economic sense to back a single format.

More affordable? Yeah right. Then why is Star Trek TOS Season 1 retailing at 200 bucks?

[Beta-guy]

Originally Posted by calidan

More affordable? Yeah right. Then why is Star Trek TOS Season 1 retailing at 200 bucks?

because it can :P besides he was talking about the players not the discs...

[blackhawktraffic]

Great article, cant believe murdoch said that though haha.

[atomik kinder]

Originally Posted by Zaphod

I want to know what the Oracle of Omaha thinks!

That man can't pick a loser even if he tried!

I will ask him tomorrow.

J/k Although, I do work in the same building as he has offices in and see him every so often. He probably doesn't even own a dvd player. If you have ever seen him and talked to him he is actually a pretty simple kind of guy. Although, maybe I could strike up a conversation in the elevator with him...

[marzetta7]

Disney Chief Rips Blu-ray Defectors

Says Blu-ray victory is "forgone conclusion."

http://www.tvpredictions.com/disneyblu091807.htm

Disney CEO Robert Iger today criticized studios that have dropped support of Blu-ray in favor of rival HD DVD.

That's according to an article by the Associated Press.

Disney, along with three other major Hollywood studios, are exclusive supporters of Blu-ray in the high-def disc format war. However, Paramount and DreamWorks last month joined Universal HD in supporting HD DVD exclusively. (Paramount previously released films on both Blu-ray and HD DVD.)

The AP reports that Iger today said Blu-ray's victory was a "forgone conclusion" and expressed disappointment that other studios had not joined the Blu-ray team.

"It's disappointing that the industry hasn't managed to be cohesive," Iger said.

The Disney chief made his remarks at a Goldman Sachs investment meeting.

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, whose Fox studio also exclusively backs Blu-ray, told the conference that his favored format offers the best picture.

"The public can tell the difference," Murdoch said, according to the AP.

Philippe Dauman, CEO of Viacom, which owns Paramount, responded to Iger's remarks by saying that the studio is now backing HD DVD because its players are more affordable.

The entry-level HD DVD player is $299 while the lowest-priced Blu-ray player retails for $499.

According to Variety, Dauman refused to comment on reports that Toshiba paid Paramount $100 million to switch to HD DVD.

But Iger seemed certain that the report was true.

"We haven't taken any money (to choose Blu-ray) because we think it's far and away the best business," Iger said, according to Variety.

Whoa! Let's see that again...

"We haven't taken any money (to choose Blu-ray) because we think it's far and away the best business," Iger said, according to Variety.

Hmm, even the Mouse can see Blu-ray is "far and away the bust business." Thankfully, so do the consumers, buying mostly Blu all year long. :smokey:

So much for those HD DVD boys holding out for Disney. Their allegiance is assuredly Blu.

[DrinkMore]

Philippe Dauman, CEO of Viacom, which owns Paramount, responded to Iger's remarks by saying that the studio is now backing HD DVD because its players are more affordable.

Sure it has NOTHING to do with a $150 million dollar payoff? Oh no, the players are cheaper... yeah... right...

[Fozziwig]

The argument for P/DW dumping the better selling format changes whenever the wind changes direction.

So, now it's back to cheap players again? What a moronic statement to make. Anyway, at least it demonstrates they know that being paid to drop Blu-ray was not entirely legitimate.

[darkpoet25]

I wonder if any of the panicked Blu supporters over at AV$ know about this, and what the hd dud supporters are going to say.

[Mericalis]

Originally Posted by Fozziwig

The argument for P/DW dumping the better selling format changes whenever the wind changes direction.

So, now it's back to cheap players again? What a moronic statement to make. Anyway, at least it demonstrates they know that being paid to drop Blu-ray was not entirely legitimate.

We've seen even in threads posted on here recently by our members that HD-DUD's promise of "a cheaper line of players" is borderline lying as far as I've seen only their 1080i series can be considered cheaper. So, I have to say that P/DW (won't give the satisfaction of typing out their names) don't have a leg to stand on in their comments.

And BTW, they couldn't very well come out after the Disney reprimand and say, "Oh, the real reason is we are a bunch of morons and money hoarding executives making million dollar decisions on minute to minute whims." But I have to say as far as I've seen, it's really what they should be saying.

Edit: I guess I should wait until I'm fully rested to read these posts like this...I will probably wake in the morning and kick myself for what I made comments on. Oh well.