Warner Bros. Pledges Exclusivity to Blu-ray

The major Hollywood studio will drop its support for HD-DVD in May, releasing new movies exclusively in the Blu-ray format.

The post-holiday stalemate in the high-definition format war may just have been broken, with Blu-ray landing a new and powerful ally.  Warner Bros. Studios, a former equal opportunity player – releasing movies in both formats – formally announced on Friday that it would begin releasing movies exclusively on Blu-ray in 2008.

According to Warner, the move was prompted by consumer demand. “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,” said Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Home Video.

The never-ending conflict between formats seems to also have been a factor in the decision. Blu-ray, Warner execs believe, possesses more future potential than its competitor. “The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger,” said Warner CEO Barry Meyer, in a statement. “We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers.”

While the studio will continue to release movies on HD-DVD through the early months of this year, support for the format will end in May 2008, with the studio switching exclusively to standard DVDs and Blu-ray.

In a comment sent via email, Toshiba expressed surprise at Warner Bros. decision, noting "various contracts in place between our companies concerning the support of HD DVD" and its belief HD DVD players and PCs outsold Blu-ray in the U.S. market in 2007. Toshiba has not yet commented on whether it is considering  legal action against Warner Bros., noting only that it is evaluating its next steps.

Warner Bros. defection leaves Paramount, Dreamworks, and Universal among the major studios producing movies exclusively in HD DVD format, while Sony, Disney, Fox, MGM, and Lionsgate number among Blu-ray’s supporters. However, Warner Bros. move to Blu-ray is significant because the studio represents a  signficant share of Hollywood’s overall DVD business, accounting for 18 to 20 percent of the DVD market on its own.