Chance of STARZ going neutral?

[XanderAE]

Hi guys,

I was over at AVSForum just when i see this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=887081

As you can see, it details a conversation that a HD DVD fan had with the PR guy at Starz Home Entertainment about possibly releasing titles on both HD formats. Make of it what you will, but I thought I best inform you.

HD DVD fud or serious? Should there be concern for a possible piece of damaging news for exclusive support? What's funny is the people's responses on this thread!

The OP's post goes as follows:

"As much as I haven't really cared about that many Blu-Ray exclusive titles so far, the STARZ announcement burned me with the likes of Dawn of the Dead and Halloween. So I decided to try and contact someone at STARZ / Anchor Bay that could explain to me why they decided to offer these only on Blu-Ray.

Today I reached the President of their PR department, Ed Peters, and I explained that I was very upset by their decision to support BD exclusively. What immediately struck me was how amazingly informed he was. He was well aware of the disc capacity of both formats, the models involved (he actually owns a Toshiba A1 and a PS3), and the sales figures involved with both formats.

But what really blew me away and gave me GREAT hope for the future of HD-DVD is that he specifically referred to today's press release by Warner Brothers, citing their breakthrough 250K unit sales of "300" and Ron Sander's quote, "This phenomenal response to '300’' is the latest proof that our approach [dual format]makes the most sense in today’s market and has enabled Warner Home Video to continue to lead the market in high definition sales."

He said to me, verbatim, "Believe me, there are many studio heads reading that quote this morning with great interest."

He also stated that he could not tell me, even off the record, their future plans for the HD market. He did say, however, that I should be "patient", implying that their stance could change in the near future.

I'm no insider, nor would ever claim to be -- I'm simply an HD-DVD fan and Anchor Bay supporter that is voicing his opinion on my preferred format. But I was blown away by his knowledge, his willingness to talk to me (for about 10 minutes), and his sincere dedication to film and HD in general. He even told me he personally prefers the HD-DVD version when a film is released on both formats.

I left with the impression that my favorite horror films will definitely see the light of day on my format sooner rather than later. And I'm sharing this experience with other HD-DVD supporters who share my interest in these films. I don't want to post his phone number because I don't want people attacking him on all fronts. I'm sure you could obtain the # as easily as I did if you really want to speak with him."