Hi-Def News: Warner, New Line to support Blu-Ray exclusively! (Format) War is over!

Folks, normally I'm not an "I told ya so," but this time, well I just have to, because I've gotten into too many animated discussions with people who weren't buying into it.

The high-definition format war, between Blu-Ray discs and HD-DVD, is effectively over.

The Digital Bits.com reported yesterday that Warner Bros. studios, previously a supporter of both hi-def formats, would be begin supporting Blu-Ray exclusively in 2008. New Line Cinema quickly followed suit with a similar announcement. Warner will continue to produce new HD-DVDs, allowing a short window of time between their release and the standard definition and blu-ray releases, until May 31st to satisfy contractual obligations with the HD-DVD Group. After that, ONLY Universal, DreamWorks, and Paramount will be continuing to support HD-DVD, with Sony, MGM, Disney, 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, and now Warner and New Line Cinema firmly with Blu-ray. That represents 70% of Hollywood's major movie studio output. And here's why:

-Market research data provided by the NPD Group, a leading national market research company with offices in the United States, the UK, Japan, and the European Union, shows that this past December, despite a $100 price premium in HD-DVD's favor, set top Blu-Ray players outsold HD-DVD players, and despite Toshiba offering the cheapest HD-DVD player on the market, Blu-Ray software sales outpaced that of HD-DVD by 2-to-1.

-Blu-Ray carries the corporate support of consumer electronics manufacturers Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Pioneer, Philips, Panasonic, LG, and Hitachi, as well as computer manufacturers Apple and Dell. In comparison, HD-DVD's sole exclusive supporters are Toshiba and Microsoft, with Samsung and LG producing players that support both formats, players that due to their high-manufacturing costs have not become a realistic option for consumers. On its website, Samsung devotes MUCH greater attention to its successes and upcoming product lines associated with Blu-ray.

-With Time Warner fully and exclusively supporting Blu-Ray, Wal-Mart stores will now be free to add even greater emphasis to their Blu-Ray offerings, bringing them more in line with Target stores, which last year discontinued sales of HD-DVD players in their stores in order to focus on Blu-Ray.

A great many industry observers came into the holiday season believing that one way or the other, the format war would be decided by the end of 2007. Looks like Warner saw the writing on the wall. Paramount and DreamWorks are rather stuck with their decision last summer to back HD-DVD exclusively for 18 months--going back on it now would be a PR nightmare and probably spark litigation. But how long will it be before Universal announces that it will, at the very least, begin to support both formats, so that they can have a slice of the riches going to the Blu-Ray camp? I reckon not long. It didn't go unnoticed that the North American HD-DVD Promotions group officially canceled their Sunday press event at this year's upcoming CES (Consumer Electronics Show) trade show in Las Vegas, a show which traditionally has been a launching pad for promotion of new electronics products for the coming year. Guess they don't have anything good to say.

But seriously, in my mind, all you had to do to be convinced of the way this was going to go was go into a Target or Wal-Mart store around mid-December, as I did a number of times. If you happened to wander into the electronics/movie section, it was practically impossible to miss: shelves devoted to Blu-Ray releases and Playstation 3 games and accessories were just about bare, while the HD-DVDs were, well, there were a LOT more of them available.

This trend is going to continue despite the holidays being over. Just this past week, Best Buy stores were offering a promotion backed by the Blu-Ray Disc Association--buy any blu-ray disc player (excluding Playstation 3 consoles and dual-format players) and get 5 free blu-ray discs instantly. Not a mail-in offer, although the mail-in 5 free blu-rays with the purchase of any player (PS3 included) is still in effect, but an instant, pick-your-movies-off-the-shelf-right-now promotion. So all total, you could have TEN free movies for your collection, each retailing for at least $19.99, just for buying a player, some of which have come down as low as $300.

Want to bet blu-ray player sales top HD-DVD sales again in January? That, my friends, is what you call a "sucker bet."

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. I TOLD YA SO.