Warner Bros. to back Blu-ray exclusively

In a move many industry watchers view as the beginning of the end of the high-def DVD format war, Warner Bros.—until now the Switzerland of the battle, backing both formats—has decided that going forward, it will only issue Blu-ray high-def titles.

In a statement released explaining its decision, the company said that by backing Blu-ray, it hopes to end the format war and help propel the next-generation DVD market into a viable buisness. So far, confusion over formats has led to many would-be high-def DVD purchasers to sit on the sidelines. Many industry insiders also believed the stalemate was also affecting sales of standard-def titles, since consumers knew that they'd soon be replacing standard-definition movies with high-def ones.

With Warner's move, the Blu-ray camp now has exclusive support from Warner, Disney, 20th Century Fox, New Line, HBO and Lionsgate; Universal and Paramount/DreamWorks are the only major studios still backing the HD DVD format. Warner's exclusivity to Blu-ray will actually start later this spring, as there are still HD DVD products in the production pipleine.

Given the timing of the move—just two days before the official start of the Consumer Electronics Show—the HD DVD Promotions Group decided to cancel its CES press conference, most likely to regroup and formulate an official opinion about the announcement. Stay tuned for more CES-related announcements over the next four or five days as Consumer Reports editors work the show.

—James K. Willcox

Comments

[John Smith]

I think both formats should be supported with suitable hardware. It can't be that tough.