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[Alcibiades]

http://home.businesswire.com/portal...d=news_view&newsId=20070523006337&newsLang=en

Warner Home Video First to Break the 100K Sold Mark in High Definition Titles with “The Departed”

Warner Home Video Leads the High Definition Disc Market with Two of the Top-Selling HD DVD and Blu-Ray Disc Titles

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today Warner Home Video (WHV) announced that it is the first studio to surpass sales of 100,000 copies of a high definition title with Martin Scorsese’s 2006 Academy Award® Best Picture winner, “The Departed”.

With the number one and two highest selling titles on high definition formats - “The Departed” and “Superman Returns” - as well as three other titles in the top ten, (“Batman Begins”, “Happy Feet” and “Goodfellas&#8221 Warner Home Video continues to be the market share leader in high definition disc sales.

“It’s no accident that Warner is the first studio to reach this benchmark. We owe this success to a combination of great content and our decision to support both high definition formats,” said Ron Sanders, President of Warner Home Video. “By releasing titles on HD DVD and Blu-ray, Warner Home Video not only increases our potential audience reach, but also offers consumers assurance that regardless of the format they choose they can enjoy our movies.”

With more than 30-percent market share of DVD sales in the high definition market, Warner Home Video has sold more high definition product and released more titles than any other studio. WHV’s support of HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc allows consumers to watch the Studio’s award-winning entertainment on any high definition home viewing device or player they choose.

“High definition media represents an incredible opportunity for the industry, and we, as content providers, can help push mainstream adoption by producing in both formats and giving the consumer a simple choice,” continued Sanders. “At a time when the home video business is flat and high definition media presents our best hope for near term growth, it is unfortunate that we as an industry continue to perpetuate consumer confusion.”

lol, it sounds like he's taking jabs at Bog Iger who recently said "we made our bed with Blu-ray", and of course Universal's Home Video President (who just got promoted) saying last week Blu-ray is out of the question.

I predict the first title to cross 1 million will be either 300 or the new Harry Potter movie (both Warner movies), or if Dreamworks Animation gets off their lazy ass AND decide to support both formats, maybe Shrek the Thrid.

 

[Defuser]

I wonder what's the ratio of The departed between BD:HD DVD

 

[Ravager61]

I wonder what's the ratio of The departed between BD:HD DVD

Thats the million dollar question.

 

[Sean]

Glad to see it's successful, best movie of last year.

 

[Alcibiades]

Blu-ray no doubt sold more (Warner is selling that version for $5 less), but the last numbers we saw were weeks ago, so it's hard to say how the final numbers stand, but my own guess would be something like 70% Blu-ray, 30% HD DVD.

If they were to be sold at the same price, I imagine it would be something like 60/40. Either way, I'm guessing by the end of the year, they'll have the Top 10 all to themselves as they are putting out the most dual-format titles, though maybe Dreamworks might have a title or two there.

 

[Jake.]

I predict the first title to cross 1 million will be either 300 or the new Harry Potter movie (both Warner movies), or if Dreamworks Animation gets off their lazy ass AND decide to support both formats, maybe Shrek the Thrid.

i don't see any HD/blu-ray title hitting one million sales anytime soon.

 

[Laika]

Glad to see it's successful, best movie of last year.

"No, but you are close"

 

[ToxicAdam]

Blue-ray had a 63/37 advantage on this title.



http://www.dvdfile.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6035

In the first quarter of 2007, consumer purchases of 1.2 million high definition discs were 70% Blu-ray Disc and 30% HD DVD. This is not necessarily attributable to the nature of the offered titles. When consumers were given the choice of purchasing The Departed on either format, 63% opted for BD. Of the top selling HD disc titles during the first quarter, eight were on BD, led by the impressive performance of Casino Royale. It’s interesting to note that even though HD on disc has been available since April of 2006, more than half of the discs were purchased during the last of the four quarters that ended in March. HD on disc is catching on much faster than did DVD

But who gives a shit.

 

[Alcibiades]

Warner Bros. home video and digital distribution President made the point even clearer when asked about the format war. Sounds like they really want to protect their investment in both formats and are doing what they can to see both succeed:

http://www.contentagenda.com/info/CA6442866.html

Q 10: Why was the industry unable to resolve the format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD before it reached the market? What went wrong this time?

Part of it, of course, was the ongoing battle for the living room between Microsoft and Sony but also at some point in this process the common wisdom in the industry was that HD-DVD was a short term proposition. The real issue at this point is this: When it is clear that both formats will be in the marketplace for the foreseeable future, why has the industry not made the appropriate adjustment to eliminate consumer confusion and do everything we can to bring about main stream adoption of HD media?

Most people don’t understand the difference between the LCD versus plasma HD monitors, and yet both are flying off the shelves simply because consumers can get the programming they want on either. There is a very simple solution here and that is for all the content providers to produce in both formats and give the consumer a simple choice.

High definition media represents an incredible opportunity for the industry. Having both formats in the market has created a competitive environment that is leading to innovation and competitive pricing. In order for us to see mass adoption of high definition and the concomitant growth in home video revenues we should all be working to lower the price of the hardware. We saw a significant jump in the sales of Toshiba HD-DVD players when they dropped the price of their lowest price player to $399 on April 1st. If we only had one format we would never have seen this kind of competitive pricing this early in the format’s lifecycle.

At a time when the home video business is flat and HD media presents our best hope for near term growth our focus as an industry should be on the consumer and creating the most attractive scenario for them. We have a window of opportunity here and if we continue to perpetuate consumer confusion HD media may become the next laser disk.

 

[Alcibiades]

finally, some more recent hard numbers from homemediaretailing.com:

In March, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment announced it had shipped, rather than sold, 100,000 copies of Casino Royale, which was released on the Blu-ray Disc format only. According to Home Media Magazine’s market research department, actual sales of the title, as of the end of April, stood at 74,280 units. At that same point, the Blu-ray Disc version of The Departed had sold 58,300 units, while the HD DVD edition had sold 35,300 units.

so basically, at the end of April, sales stood at:

Casino Royale - 74,280
The Departed - 93,600 (58,300 BD + 35,300 HD DVD)

 

[XMonkey]

Sounds like they really want to protect their investment in both formats and are doing what they can to see both succeed:

Idiots.

 

[mrklaw]

It’s no accident that Warner is the first studio to reach this benchmark. We owe this success to a combination of great content and our decision to support both high definition formats

yeah, it helps that you actually release this on bloody bluray, you half supporting, won't release Matrix until stupid PiP is done bastards. Just give us the movies already!


BTW Departed rocks, Departed on bluray also rocks.

 

[Wulfer]

Mrklaw and Xmonkey,

You just don't get it do you? Warner Bros. wants both players in the game. This why they continue to support HD-DVD when they need it. Warner is raking in the cash from exclusives to duel support. No one is cleaning up like Warner Bros. so, why would they want to change things now! Maybe that will help you understand why they've given Blu-ray the shaft and HD-DVD the perks.(Of course having working IME features might have helped HD-DVD too I'm sure.) Warner Bros. wants HD-DVD in the game if they gave Blu-ray equal support HD-DVD would start to lose. (This is clear and the Blu rayers just have to understand Warner doesn't want this because it will kill Total HD plans.) Now, you know why HD-DVD isn't going anywhere and why Warner Bros. will continue to be king in sales. This is a win/win for Warner bros. Why would they want to change?

I will go further and state that soon Warner will stop releasing breakdown numbers period from here on out. The more lines get blurred is a better thing for Total HD. This will cause another affect. Studio don't want Warner raking in all the cash they will turn neutral! Just watch! This goes for all studios picking sides. Warner has two of the major studios supporting Total HD (themselves and Paramount) others will cross soon because of studio competition. Warners the only one blurring the lines now wait until Paramount starts doing the same. For these reasons I state this and state this clear Blu-ray and HD-DVD aren't going anywhere. The time for one format to fail has passed. HD-DVD is coming into it's own with all the cheap players soon and Matrix, Heroes, Battle Star push and Blu-ray has too many players out on the market for it to go anywhere. The sooner you guy's accept both players the better off your going to be or just keep your DVD players and enjoy all movies. (I have a feeling the DVD option is out for most GAFers).

 

[XMonkey]

:lol I don't get it? Warner doesn't get it. They would stand to make a lot more money if one format would die and consumers (and retailers) wouldn't be forced to split their decision down the middle on who to support. Neither format will truly become mainstream until one dies out, but Warner seems to want to prolong this (and hurt the consumer in the process).

 

[Wulfer]

No, you really don't get it! You think Warner cares about you or Best Buy :lol No, they care about what makes them money just like all the other studios do. Sony didn't create Blu-ray because they love you their trying to create a cash cow for you to spend on. I guess I wasn't clear enough before. Warner Bros. is the leader of HD end of story! Their getting royalities (you can bet from HD-DVD for the Matrix coop). Their releasing on both formats and their creating Total HD to create a royality fee for other studios who want to go the same route AKA Paramount is one of them.

Now, let's see what Warner gains by supporting Blu-ray or HD-DVD exclusively. Hmmm they get put in the same boat as the other studios. They would gain no royality fees from Total HD AKA Paramount and any other studios that pick this route. They would actually lose money from scraping Total HD development. Finally, they would get no HD-DVD kickbacks for exclusives and who would gain from all this Sony, no one else.

Now, if I'm a company hmmm do I want to be the leader of HD or do I want in the same boat as the rest of the studios. Well, that's a hard choice isn't it? Man your acting like these studios care about you. They don't give a damn about you, only your money your willing to spend plain and simple and that's the bottom line!

 

[rs7k]

I'm curious, what's the incentive for any studio to go exclusively with either format? I mean, it's just about printing a disc, no?

 

[jjasper]

Warner really is trying to hit it big with TrueHD, sucks for the consumers though.

I'm curious, what's the incentive for any studio to go exclusively with either format? I mean, it's just about printing a disc, no?

Depends on the studio. I am not sure about Universal and Disney and their reasoning (recieving money?) but Fox is helped (helping) develop blu ray software like BD-J I think.

 

[Alcibiades]

I'm curious, what's the incentive for any studio to go exclusively with either format? I mean, it's just about printing a disc, no?

Subsidies on disc replication from Sony for Fox and Disney, plus money hats like Panasonic including their discs with their players.

Universal probably gets "money hats" somehow (like Microsoft buying a bunch of King Kongs to include in the HD DVD drive).

Weinstein is probably just sticking it to Disney by complicating matters and adding a studio exclusive to HD DVD for now.

Some independent studios, like First Look, chose HD DVD cause of cheaper costs though (Blu-ray is more expensive to master and replicate for smaller studios).

More and more, you'll likely see studios going neutral though (like Dreamworks recently did).

 

[Suikoguy]

More and more, you'll likely see studios going neutral though (like Dreamworks recently did).

What studios?

 

[Alcibiades]

What studios?

Weinstein Co., Dreamworks Animation (not to be confused with Dreamworks SKG), Anchor Bay, Lion's Gate, but eventually the "big" ones will probably have to yield when they see all the most of the top selling titles being dual-format...

Warner (other than the TotalHD crap they intend to pull), is pretty much winning consumers with their strategy, and the only ones that look like bad guys are Disney, Universal, Fox, and Sony.

Won't happen for a long time, but it seems like it'll happen eventually.

 

[Meier]

:lol I don't get it? Warner doesn't get it. They would stand to make a lot more money if one format would die and consumers (and retailers) wouldn't be forced to split their decision down the middle on who to support. Neither format will truly become mainstream until one dies out, but Warner seems to want to prolong this (and hurt the consumer in the process).

How are they hurting the consumer? I don't understand that mindset. The more discs I can buy in the format I prefer, the better. It doesn't really matter to me how mainstream they become.. every new film is being released on them in one form or another, so what do I care if Jim Bob in Texarkana buys em?

 

[Wulfer]

What studios?

Yee of little faith, just wait a while....

Right now you've got Warner Bros. mudding the water with the numbers just wait until Paramount starts doing it. That will be 2 of the 7 majors clouding the water and Sony or Toshiba for that matter, won't be able to report a clear picture of the numbers. That's just the way Warner Bros. KING OF HD will want it! :lol

Total HD will be the future and the only thing that can stop it is Warner Bros or some patent lawsuit that pulls one of the players (disc formats) from shelves.

 

[Oni Jazar]

I'm with XMonkey (& Disney & Fox & Bill Hunt). One format = more consumer confidence = more players = more movies sold.

Two formats = consumer confusion = less players purchased = smaller market.

Warner would be announcing their first title that sells 1 million instead of 100 thousand. Also TotalHD discs gimp both Blu-ray and HD DVD with only BD25s.

 

[Wulfer]

I'm with XMonkey (& Disney & Fox). One format = more consumer confidence = more players = more movies sold.

Two formats = consumer confusion = less players purchased = smaller market.

Warner would be announcing their first title that sells 1 million instead of 100 thousand. Also TotalHD discs gimp both Blu-ray and HD DVD with only BD25s.

Too bad for you Warner Bros. doesn't see that way. I guess your screwed.

Man what I can't understand is why you guys think these company's care weather or not you guys get the best product. They want your money that's it! If you get a great product their happy you got one but, they want their money that's all.

 

[jjasper]

I'm with XMonkey (& Disney & Fox & Bill Hunt). One format = more consumer confidence = more players = more movies sold.

Two formats = consumer confusion = less players purchased = smaller market.

Warner would be announcing their first title that sells 1 million instead of 100 thousand. Also TotalHD discs gimp both Blu-ray and HD DVD with only BD25s.

I agree with this but one positive thing is that because there are 2 formats right now both are better than they would have been had there only been one.

 

[XMonkey]

No, you really don't get it! You think Warner cares about you or Best Buy :lol No, they care about what makes them money just like all the other studios do. Sony didn't create Blu-ray because they love you their trying to create a cash cow for you to spend on. I guess I wasn't clear enough before. Warner Bros. is the leader of HD end of story! Their getting royalities (you can bet from HD-DVD for the Matrix coop). Their releasing on both formats and their creating Total HD to create a royality fee for other studios who want to go the same route AKA Paramount is one of them.

No, I don't think they care about me at all. They should, because the consumer is the one giving them money, but I don't pretend that Warner is listening intently to the consumer. Their shoddy HD releases audio-wise are evidence enough of this. Do they care about Best Buy? Yes, but they obviously aren't tops on Warner's care list by any margin.

If the HD movie formats remain split, you won't see it become popular enough to challenge DVD (at least not for a long time). If one format emerged as the clear winner, and I personally don't care what format it is, sales have a much better chance at taking off exponentially. The more HD can gain marketshare, the more money the studios will make. Why Warner wants to seeminly prolong HD-DVD/Bluray's niche status is beyond me. You're looking at a very large potential market if one format wins out, or a niche market like the one that both formats currently command right now.

And let's not even start on TotalHD. It's a terrible thing.

How are they hurting the consumer? I don't understand that mindset. The more discs I can buy in the format I prefer, the better. It doesn't really matter to me how mainstream they become.. every new film is being released on them in one form or another, so what do I care if Jim Bob in Texarkana buys em?

The creation of TotalHD is mainly what I was referring to. It gimps the size of the Bluray side and will only cause more confusion among consumers, not to mention it will be more expensive than any standalone HD release. Remember, the majority of people aren't as tech-savvy as those of us posting on GAF so asking them to figure out Bluray and HD-DVD is hard enough, but throwing in TotalHD to the mix will only make it worse. It will slow adoption of a single format without a doubt.

 

[Oni Jazar]

Too bad for you Warner Bros. doesn't see that way. I guess your screwed.

We're all screwed if we don't get classic titles like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and others any time soon with the best possible quality the format can allow.

I agree with this but one positive thing is that because there are 2 formats right now both are better than they would have been had there only been one.

Competition has served its purpose driving down prices but I have to wonder if things are going a bit out of control. Looks like people are looking for the cheap chinese knock offs to save the war with sub $200 players. It may lead to a scenario where everyone loses.

It gimps the size of the Bluray side and will only cause more confusion among consumers,

It gimps the HD DVD side too because who will do two seperate encodes for 25GB & 30GB? Discs will be made for the lowest common denominator.

 

[Wulfer]

The creation of TotalHD is mainly what I was referring to. It gimps the size of the Bluray side and will only cause more confusion among consumers, not to mention it will be more expensive than any standalone HD release. Remember, the majority of people aren't as tech-savvy as those of us posting on GAF so asking them to figure out Bluray and HD-DVD is hard enough, but throwing in TotalHD to the mix will only make it worse. It will slow adoption of a single format without a doubt.

That's where your wrong. The customer will be able to buy any player and be stress free about if the movie is support by their player. Total HD will change the game. Will it be good or will it be bad? Don't know yet but, one things clear without outside forces (lawsuits etc.) HD-DVD and Blu-ray are here to stay. The only thing that will change from DVD will be who gets paid again the whole reason this HD-DVD/ Blu-ray fight started.

 

[XMonkey]

Tell me again why someone would buy the more expensive TotalHD disk, especially when it won't offer the amount of storage space a normal Bluray release can?

 

[Wulfer]

Tell me again why someone would buy the more expensive TotalHD disk, especially when it won't offer the amount of storage space a normal Bluray release can?

Tell me again why you think Warner is going to offer you a choice? See HD-DVD users already have flipper discs. It's really not that big of a deal to us. Woo hooo this disc has cover art that disc doesn't. Does it really take away from enjoying the movie. No, so it's extra fluff that has nothing to do with how the movie performs at all. Please by all means boy cott Warner I'll be glad to purchase their movies with or without blu-ray on the other side.

 

[Bebpo]

How are they hurting the consumer? I don't understand that mindset. The more discs I can buy in the format I prefer, the better. It doesn't really matter to me how mainstream they become.. every new film is being released on them in one form or another, so what do I care if Jim Bob in Texarkana buys em?

Well, there are a lot of people who want to jump into the HD market and make BOTH formats thrive (which will encourage studios to release more films in HD), but they're holding off because they don't want to commit until one wins. That's a lot of lost profits.

 

[Lord Error]

More and more, you'll likely see studios going neutral though (like Dreamworks recently did).

They did? I thought they didn't want to support either side? What movies did they release for either format?

 

[Wulfer]

They did? I thought they didn't want to support either side? What movies did they release for either format?

You must have forgot that Dreamgirls just came out for both HD-DVD and Blu-ray!

 

[Bebpo]

You must have forgot that Dreamgirls just came out for both HD-DVD and Blu-ray!

...through Paramount.

 

[Wulfer]

...through Paramount.

It's still DreamWorks, your point?

 

[drohne]

there's more pressure on universal to go neutral than there is on any of the bd exclusive studios. and when universal goes neutral, hd-dvd starts dying in earnest.

 

[ManaByte]

Warner really is trying to hit it big with TrueHD, sucks for the consumers though.



Depends on the studio. I am not sure about Universal and Disney and their reasoning (recieving money?) but Fox is helped (helping) develop blu ray software like BD-J I think.

Both Fox and Disney are Blu-Ray exclusive due to the region coding. Don't let any delusional hype convince you otherwise. They won't touch HD-DVD since it's region free.

 

[ManaByte]

there's more pressure on universal to go neutral than there is on any of the bd exclusive studios. and when universal goes neutral, hd-dvd starts dying in earnest.

Mainly by Blu-Ray supporters.

Warner makes a great point in their press release that they're making a shitload of money equally supporting both formats and releasing a ton of titles on both formats; usually at the same time if possible. Paramount/Dreamworks is this way too. It doesn't matter what color box you're player can support; if you want one of their movies you can buy it.

The last paragraph is mainly directed at Fox and Disney (who gives a **** about Lionsgate, really?) and their stubborness over region coding, but then again Fox exclusively supported DIVX and didn't touch DVD until that format failed.

Apparently back in the day BRD was going to be region free, but they caved in and split NA and EU into regions just to appease Fox and Disney because they wouldn't touch any region free HD format.

 

[drohne]

if there's financial pressure on disney and fox to sell to the entirety of the hd market, as warner is, that pressure must fall harder on universal, who are selling to an even smaller subsection of the hd market. and if universal blinks first, there's no longer any pressure on fox or disney, because blu ray will become the entirety of the hd market.

i absolutely agree that users should be able to go out and buy the movies they want without worrying about format wars, but i don't buy into this format-neutral future, simply because there's ABSOLUTELY NO REASON FOR TWO REDUNDANT HD DISC FORMATS TO EXIST

 

[rezuth]

Glad to see it's successful, best movie of 2002.

Fixed.

 

[XMonkey]

Tell me again why you think Warner is going to offer you a choice? See HD-DVD users already have flipper discs. It's really not that big of a deal to us. Woo hooo this disc has cover art that disc doesn't. Does it really take away from enjoying the movie. No, so it's extra fluff that has nothing to do with how the movie performs at all. Please by all means boy cott Warner I'll be glad to purchase their movies with or without blu-ray on the other side.

I don't care about cover art, what makes you think I did? I do care about losing out on 25GB of space on the Bluray side though. If Warner goes TotalHD only it won't be just me boycotting their releases.

 

[AdmiralViscen]

Idiots.

Not really. Read the excerpt.

:lol I don't get it? Warner doesn't get it. They would stand to make a lot more money if one format would die and consumers (and retailers) wouldn't be forced to split their decision down the middle on who to support. Neither format will truly become mainstream until one dies out, but Warner seems to want to prolong this (and hurt the consumer in the process).

Definitely didn't read his reasoning.