NEWS: Warner Bros goes Blu-ray-only from May

Andrew Everard 04 January 2008 23:33

Harry Phoenix scaled 

After a period of releasing movies on both Blu-ray and HD DVD, Warner Bros has announced it will only release high-definition movies on Blu-ray from May this year.

The announcement, made today, cites 'consumer demand' as the reason for the move.

Since Paramount dropped its two-platform policy in 2007, Warner had been the only studio committed to both formats, but the company says it will cease this policy in May, and will now produce discs in just DVD and Blu-ray.

Jeff Bewkes, president and CEO of Time Warner, the parent company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, said that 'Today’s decision by Warner Bros. to distribute in a single format comes at the right time and is the best decision both for consumers and Time Warner.'

And Kevin Tsujihara, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group president added that “A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry,

'Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray, and we believe that recognizing this preference is the right step in making this great home entertainment experience accessible to the widest possible audience.'

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Comments

marvsins January 5, 2008 00:02

someone's working late !! this is good news the soon there is a single format the better

bot bot January 5, 2008 14:47

Unfortunately it seems to be another nail in the coffin for hd-dvd,a format equally as good as blu-ray,but studios don`t seem to give it a fair chance.Still well happy with my hd-dvd player though.

burhan January 6, 2008 16:24

Apparently its the end of May and not March.

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About Andrew Everard

Andrew Everard, Audio Editor of Gramophone since November 1999 and What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision's Consulting Editor, read English at Queens' College, Cambridge a very long time ago! He started his journalistic career in 1982 on Haymarket's photographic magazines, and subsequently worked on What Hi-Fi?, High Fidelity, Audiophile and Home Cinema magazines, as well as contributing a monthly column to Japanese title HiVi.