The rumor is that Warner is coming aboard soon

[Living Near Shamu]

The sooner Warner goes blu, the sooner we get The Bourne Trilogy on Blu as well.

Yeah!

[Jonalan34]

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel in format war for Blu. Warner Bros will become Blu exclusive as I did last month when I am no longer neutral, see link in my sigs(only if you haven't read, who have read b4 do not have to read it again).

Over last 10 to 20 Blu-ray addition to my collection are Warner Bros. Also titles are from Warner Bros are coming soon next two weeks: Harry Potters and my christmas presents(5 warner Bros movies). Of course, Blade Runner on Dec 27th or Dec 28th when I buy it (Blade runner released on DEc 18, I don't have $).

[glenn22]

Recipe for a hugely popular post on Blu-ray.com:

1 Part Warner Bros
1 Part Exclusivity rumor
1 Part credibility

Mix items together and bake into an article

[teunis]

hmmm.... I have my fingers crossed.
This would be amazing.

[joeorc]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

one thing that i get out of this article for sure, is that there was, for certain a payoff between HD DVD and Paramount/DW and it is for 18 months.

intresting sony didn't comment, only time they havn't commented in the past was in the case of a new psp and ps3 price cuts tosh certainly did seem reassuring, i'd expect something out of them like, "warner has released more titles on hd dvd, it seems to us they favor us," but nothing like that was said from them. it'll be intresting in the next few days if warner is silent about this or denys it. its still a rumor, but with recent comments from Warner in the past few months, it sure seems like they are bracing the hd dvd fanboys for something bad.

what else is good, is that business week is pretty big, so a lot of people are going to see this. and even if it is just a rumor and warner doesn't do anything, a lot of people have gotten the idea not to buy into hd dud despite cheap prices from this.

i think WHAT Michael Bay's statement is just another thing in a long line of things that set this off....its all over the internet bam like clockwork every one heard about it.the mere fact that more people are outspoken by this exact same idea about Microsofts involvement in the format war has some people in the industry looking at Microsoft as the real culprit of this format war and i 100% agree with them. Microsoft wants IHD to be the defacto standard interactive control software for CE topset box'es not JAVA. and they are trying their very best to make that happen.

example:

Bay claims the "corporate politics" at play here, suggesting that "Microsoft wants both formats to fail so they can be heroes and make the world move to digital downloads." He goes on to claim that Redmond has only been financially backing HD DVD over "superior Blu-ray" to create "confusion in the market" until such time as high def digital downloading goes prime time. In other words, if you believe Bay, Microsoft is backing a known loser in order to prolong a war it doesn't want anyone to win.

one only has to look as far as the

the Advanced Interactivity Consortium (AIC)

http://www.technologynewsdaily.com/node/8162

TO SEE WHAT'S GOING ON

[CptGreedle]

I do not see how WB could go HD DVD, except the one linger thought of fear I have is that Micro$oft and Toshiba will team up to give them a HUGE payoff.
It is the only thing they know how to do, and it could be millions of dollars!
I don't know if the BDA could match that, but I have faith in WB.
So far they have turned down Toshiba once, and it seems obvious that they are in love with Blu-ray (dedicated to the format, fans of Blu-ray, etc.).

Although M$ and Tosh are likely to give them a HUGE offer, I personally think that WB will not give in and only rely on the facts and the sales.
Yes Harry Potter will have to sell well. Yes the other BD titles from WB will have to continue to outsell the HD DVD. Yes the market has to continue to dominate as it has. But since all this is very likely, I can not see WB giving up on Blu-ray.

Still, it is a rumor and nothing more. But it does give us a spark of hope during the holidays.

[J6P]

Originally Posted by tron3

Being a Business Week article, I say this one holds more water.

But look at this stupid snipit:
On the other hand, if Toshiba were to win Warner's hand, the two forces would divide the market between them. That could create mass consumer confusion and potentially strangle a new technology that the studios hope will give a lift to flagging DVD sales. That's exactly why Warner has long pushed for a single format.

Here is what is wrong when big corporate ego's come into play. Some ******** is basing a business model on this assumption that a confused market will simply stay with DVD, thus boost sales.

I think you are misreading here, Tron3. When they say "give a lift to flagging DVD sales" they are using the term "DVD" to refer to all packaged media, not just SD DVD. So, they are stating that if Toshiba scored Warner, it would stifle the adoption of HD packaged media, as a continued growth of the "DVD" market.

And "the studios hope" refers to seeing a successor to DVD, continuing sales and bringing the market into the HD realm for good -- not "the studios hope" to contribute to confusion in the marketplace and therefore reap profits in SD DVD.

It's statement that sees the value in mass adoption for the studios, and stresses the need for a single format stance to get us there.

[stockstar1138]

assuming the guy from Lionsgate knows something, if soon, means CES, doesnt that mean the deal has basically been finalized.

[sj001]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

I do not see how WB could go HD DVD, except the one linger thought of fear I have is that Micro$oft and Toshiba will team up to give them a HUGE payoff.
It is the only thing they know how to do, and it could be millions of dollars!
I don't know if the BDA could match that, but I have faith in WB.
So far they have turned down Toshiba once, and it seems obvious that they are in love with Blu-ray (dedicated to the format, fans of Blu-ray, etc.).

Although M$ and Tosh are likely to give them a HUGE offer, I personally think that WB will not give in and only rely on the facts and the sales.
Yes Harry Potter will have to sell well. Yes the other BD titles from WB will have to continue to outsell the HD DVD. Yes the market has to continue to dominate as it has. But since all this is very likely, I can not see WB giving up on Blu-ray.

Still, it is a rumor and nothing more. But it does give us a spark of hope during the holidays.

The thing is, with how many companies that are in the BDA, I can't see how they COULDN'T match or exceed anything that Microshiba were to offer WB. I really hope this Lionsgate VP knows what he is talking about...

[CptGreedle]

It is still just a rumor.
But it would be nice if the Lionsgate guy does know some inside secret. There are lots of those going on right now. But to let out a secret if a bad thing, but then claim it as a rumor which is indeed popular already might be a good save on his part.
But we are reading into this too much. How a long for a Blu-exclusive WB. Finally we could get V and Neo and Bruce.... and no longer worry about cheap crappy 15 GB transfers...
Come on WB, join us! We are waiting! This will end the war for sure, you are among the most powerful of all studios. With you and Disney and Sony by our side, we can not loose.


Good point sj001, but I fear that some of those 170+ companies are not willing to give away too much money.
But even then, if each company ONLY gave $1000, that is $170,000. And you can rest assured Sony and Disney would offer more than that!

[seto]

I think I will take this rumor with a bag of salt until it is officially announced. Maybe we can get a confirmation from SA0CD. ^^;

[Razzy]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Another thing to consider is, that without someone credible putting this possibility on the table, wouldn't Warner be open to a class action from new HD DVD purchasers feel betrayed that they weren't informed of this possibility?

Didn't we all feel betrayed when Paramount jumped ship?

Did the BDA know what was going on before it happend? I can't remember.

[sj001]

Dammit, I wish I could fast forward to the date when WB makes the announcement! It can't come soon enough!

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by Beta-guy

I'm not celebrating yet...

Toshiba and Microsoft have pockets too deep even for some of our exclusive backers. Until it is all a reality...all we could do it is keep buying WB titles.

Pro-B

[ckenisell]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Every time he reads our little piece of Blu heaven here with those YouTube links I provide, he just simmers to a boil.

"That is the sexiest thing I have ever seen."

[cooper1010]

Originally Posted by sj001

Dammit, I wish I could fast forward to the date when WB makes the announcement! It can't come soon enough!

don't wish your life away...

[marzetta7]

Ahhh...like I've stated before, Warner has choices here...

1) Choose Blu-ray: Become widely recognized as the studio who single handily saved the high-def market by putting Blu-ray over the top. Be recognized as a studio who has consumer's interests in mind by relying on sales trends and facts. In addition become a hugely lucrative studio, enjoying royalties from the BDA at an increased clip due to more consumers diving into the high-def arena with one clear winner.

2) Choose HD DVD: Become widely recognized as the studio who single handily drove the high-def market into oblivion. Probably not the move that is in their best interest as it would assuredly stagnate the market and put it in a perpetual stalemate, thus effecting their bottom line negatively in the amount of mass sales.

3) Stay Neutral: Prolong the inevitable victory of Blu-ray while incurring additional costs by supporting both and having to continue to neuter their encodes due to the space limitations on HD DVD--a simple fact that will reflect on Warner badly in terms of the PQ and AQ they provide to the end consumer.

...Personally, #1 makes all the sense in the world for them from a business perspective. I honestly don't see them making the other two choices, even with HUGE payoffs, as the consequences of such as I previously mentioned will hit them directly and negatively.

Anyhow, here's hoping the rumor is true...

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Razzy

Didn't we all feel betrayed when Paramount jumped ship?

Did the BDA know what was going on before it happend? I can't remember.

It's said they didn't know anything until it was too late to anything about it.

For what it's worth, I agree with the poster(s) that say if Warner does change their stance, they should still honour all the titles they've announced to that point.

Gary

[Spankey]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

It's said they didn't know anything until it was too late to anything about it.

For what it's worth, I agree with the poster(s) that say if Warner does change their stance, they should still honour all the titles they've announced to that point.

Gary

I believe Warner should do that for whichever format they choose. I will forgive Toshiba sooner than I will Paramount for this debacle.

[davidPS3]

I think we all know that Warner will end up Blu exclusive in the new year. There is no financial reason for them to go to the Red Team. They see the sales of their titles for our side. They have also stated that they want this war to be over and if they chose the other side, the war would drag on and guess what, everyone will then lose, including them and millions of dollars.

They have only one route to go, Blu and everyone wins.