Lion's Gate CEO: "in terms of HD, Blu-ray is really the technology of the future"

[bferr1]

Originally Posted by marzetta7

Nice! Good news, however, I'm awaiting the "but" monkeys in 3...2...1...

"but, he says they're not formally bound to Blu-ray"

"but, Hollywood studios will go where sales are and HD DVD is outselling Blu-ray 3 to 1"

"but, Lionsgate has canceled all of their Blu-ray releases execept for one in 2006, which means they're going HD DVD."

"but, Lionsgate is going to use one encode of VC-1 for future releases, which means they'll be going HD DVD"

etc, etc, etc.

But Feltheimer seems to be calling for a swift resolution to the format war so that people can buy in confidence. To that end, Lionsgate is doing BD only for the various reasons he lists. Going neutral would only confuse consumers further and prolong the format war-- things Feltheimer does not want to see happen.

[Deciazulado]

monkeys in 3...2.. *schirrrrpfzzzzzz

"but, he says they're not formally bound to Blu-ray"

"but, Hollywood studios will go where sales are and HD DVD is outselling Blu-ray 3 to 1"

"but, Lionsgate has canceled all of their Blu-ray releases execept for one in 2006, which means they're going HD DVD."

"but, Lionsgate is going to use one encode of VC-1 for future releases, which means they'll be going HD DVD"

I totally "descent" with that:





__________________
"Yes, we are exclusive to HD-DVD and we choose to be with them because of their copy protection that they could provide and the fact that they are a more durable format. HD-DVD is doing very well and getting great press, but if Blu-ray comes along and takes the lead and proves they are a better fit then we'll have NO problem supporting them." - Universal rep.

[zombie]

I have to be clear; we aren’t formally bound to Blu-ray. We do have the flexibility to go with whichever is the winning format

That doesn't exact ensure confidence in me that they'll remain a Blu-ray exclusive. This guy says that while the studio prefers Blu-ray they aren't saying no to HD DVD.

[Jeff®]

I have to be clear; we aren’t formally bound to Blu-ray. We do have the flexibility to go with whichever is the winning format

Originally Posted by nyg

That doesn't exact ensure confidence in me that they'll remain a Blu-ray exclusive. This guy says that while the studio prefers Blu-ray they aren't saying no to HD DVD.

If (and that's a big if), HD DVD is "the winning format." That doesn't sound like someone who is predisposed to releasing on two existing high def formats at the same time.

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by bferr1

But Feltheimer seems to be calling for a swift resolution to the format war so that people can buy in confidence. To that end, Lionsgate is doing BD only for the various reasons he lists. Going neutral would only confuse consumers further and prolong the format war-- things Feltheimer does not want to see happen.

I'm thinking you're being a bit liberal here with his wording. I'm reading that they feel like Blu-ray offers the superior technology and that's their horse but they naturally are open to supporting the winning format which may or may not be Blu-ray.

Going neutral won't confuse consumers anymore than they are with Warner and Paramount cranking out titles on both. Frankly I don't see things getting easy for exclusive studios. Right now there are less than 100k players for both platforms. Things change with there are are a million players for each with people eager to buy and rent movies.

Exclusivity is bad for consumers whether we're talking about HD DVD or Blu-ray.

[zombie]

Originally Posted by Jeff®

If (and that's a big if), HD DVD is "the winning format." That doesn't sound like someone who is predisposed to releasing on two existing high def formats at the same time.

You're absolutely right. I just re-read that article again and was going to edit my post to reflect that very quote but you beat me to it. I withdraw my previous comments and am satisfied that Lions Gate is indeed a Blu-ray exlusive and intends to remain one for the time being. I must say this surprises me a bit and I will have to go back to my source and have him question his wife about this. She works for LionsGate and told him who told me that they were going to go format neutral. Clearly this is not the case. And we all know what that means... Good News For Blu-ray!

[theknub]

what's worse for consumers than exclusivity is two formats. that leaves the consumer high and dry if they pick the wrong one. in this case, at least the consumer can make a more educated decision based upon which studios support what

[zombie]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

Exclusivity is bad for consumers whether we're talking about HD DVD or Blu-ray.

I think if both formats are still around in '08 then all studios will be supporting both formats then except for Sony. And I fully expect both formats to be doing quite well by then.

[zombie]

Originally Posted by theknub

what's worse for consumers than exclusivity is two formats. that leaves the consumer high and dry if they pick the wrong one. in this case, at least the consumer can make a more educated decision based upon which studios support what

Agreed that two formats simply looks bad to the consumer but I honestly believe both format can coexist just as happens in the video gaming industry.

[Jeff®]

Originally Posted by nyg

I must say this surprises me a bit and I will have to go back to my source and have him question his wife about this. She works for LionsGate and told him who told me that they were going to go format neutral. Clearly this is not the case. And we all know what that means... Good News For Blu-ray!

Hehe. I have no idea what L.G. will do. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. Perhaps you got accurate information, or perhaps they changed their mind. I was just stating, based upon the quote, they didn't sound prepared to go format-neutral at this time.

[theknub]

Originally Posted by nyg

Agreed that two formats simply looks bad to the consumer but I honestly believe both format can coexist just as happens in the video gaming industry.

maybe, maybe not. there tends to be one leader in games and then a couple of niche products here and there. the difference in recent memory has been primarily that microsoft has launched two consoles in the ps2 life cycle. this obviously says very little for MS' product longevity. in CE, there is always one big product with niche products. vhs, mp3, dvd, cd, even cassettes, with niche products like laser disc, divx, betamax, minidisc, atrac, and 8track. yes, some products drove others to niche status. however, there has always been one dominant product. the same thing will happen, IMO, in the hi-def landscape. one product will win while the other becomes a niche product. no consumer wants to support two products. simple as that, history to date supports that and i don't see it changing.

[zombie]

Well these figures are old but please allow me their use for demonstration purposes.

Sales of Consoles

PS2 - 80 million
XBox - 25 million
GameCube - 12 million

Let's say that Blu-ray becomes the PS2 of the home video market. Certainly HD DVD could coexist as either the XBox or the GameCube of the home video market.

[hmurchison]

Sounds like we're going to need Universal players.

Broadcom and Sigma to the rescue.

[zombie]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

Sounds like we're going to need Universal players.

Definitely! Dual format players are the future.

[theknub]

or are just a stopgap

[Alex Pallas]

i think this Lions Gate statement is probably a call for studios to choose the Blu-Ray side. the studios could end the format war with in a week if they all chose the same side. as far as the quality Blu Ray Vs. HD goes, Blu Ray has MUCH more potential, even IF the tech specs are not as good as HD, which i believe itself is a bold statement, far from proven.

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by Alex Pallas

i think this Lions Gate statement is probably a call for studios to choose the Blu-Ray side. the studios could end the format war with in a week if they all chose the same side. as far as the quality Blu Ray Vs. HD goes, Blu Ray has MUCH more potential, even IF the tech specs are not as good as HD, which i believe itself is a bold statement, far from proven.

Universal, Paramount and Warner dwarf Lionsgate in size. What you ask is akin to a little brother telling his older brother what to do. Not gonna happen. The logical solution is full neutrality for both formats. When that is normalized then people can focus on the salient features of each format. There's no reason why I shouldn't have Universal movies on my future BD player or Columbia/Fox/MGM/LGF movies on my HD DVD player.

By playing exclusives the studios haven't helped prevent the battle they've lengthened it and confused consumers. These are the same studios crying about people pirating their movies or not going to the theatre. How about supporting your fans for a change and maybe attitudes would change.

Truth is I want the nextgen format to be decided by the consumers who will generally pick the best value. If I'm relying on studio support to get the win for me then I am basically stating I don't trust in the efficacy of my chosen format.

[Deciazulado]

What's logical to you doesn't seem logical to me.

To me the logical thing is to choose the best format with the best potential, and to release in that format and it seems to me that the majority of studios have chosen that path too.

But that seems to be the illogical thing to do, to you.

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by Deciazulado

What's logical to you doesn't seem logical to me.

To me the logical thing is to choose the best format with the best potential, and to release in that format and it seems to me that the majority of studios have chosen that path too.

But that seems to be the illogical thing to do, to you.

My logic centers around.

1. The ability to produce HD content yet support legacy media and equipment.

2. A full featured platform that is scalable.

3. An affordable platform.

Both meet these requirements. In some areas HD DVD is ahead and in some Blu-ray is. Neither has the conclusive advantage so it seems illogical to me to see exclusive studios. Content providers provide content as long as there is the potential of financial gain.

[ay221]

Originally Posted by nyg

Definitely! Dual format players are the future.

I wonder if we do have dual format players, in 5 years what type of disc will the studios make?


Guessing Game ONLY:

I would think that is a difficult question. I heard single layer blu-ray are cheaper to make than hd-dvd, not sure what the price difference will be in 5 years. With the same codecs you will either have blu-ray 50 or a possible hd-dvd 45, maybe even a blu-ray 75 or 100, but not sure what use that space will be for. Blu-ray currently has more bandwidth. Probably would be hard for hd-dvd to change the bandwith specs, but maybe not. In audio, there will probably wouldn't be much difference in 5 years since dolby and dts set the standards. Lastly is the extra blu-ray encryption. In 5 years there will probably we hacks and MAYBE much better bandwidth to copy movies and hence studios would lean making blu discs unless they can hack the extra blu-ray encryption.