Paramount Straddles Fence, Endorses Blu-Ray

By Geoff Duncan October 3, 2005

Having trouble keeping track of which entertainment, technology, and media conglomerates are on which side of the looming next-generation DVD format war? This Monday just makes things more confusing, as Paramount Home Entertainment announces it will release HD movies in Sony’s Blu-Ray format.

Thomas Lesinski, president of Paramount Pictures Worldwide Home Entertainment said in the statement: "We have been intrigued by the broad support of Blu-ray, especially the key advantage of including Blu-ray in PlayStation 3."

But wait! Paramount’s Blu-Ray announcement seems to mean Paramount intends to keep one foot on each side of the fence: the company previously announced it planned to release content in HD DVD format, and Paramount’s new announcement in no way withdraws that support. Toshiba, developer of the HD DVD format, released a quick statement Monday, saying it believes Paramount continues to support HD DVD and release titles in the HD DVD format.

HD DVD last week received a major boost as tech giants Microsoft and Intel announced they planned to support HD DVD in favor of Blu-Ray, joining firms like Canon, Sanyo, NEC, Universal Pictures, and Warner Home Video. Blu-Ray backers include Sony itself, along with heavyweights Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Music, Lion’s Gate Entertainment, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Apple Computer.

As much as Paramount’s announcement may seem wishy-washy, it might also prove to be good business sense. Paramount is primarily a content provider, not a developer or manufacturer of consumer electronics. As such, Paramount’s goal is to sell and license its content to as many people as possible. Until the dust settles over next-generation DVDs, the best strategy may be to provide content in any reasonable format consumers expect or demand, and that may mean supporting both HD DVD and Blu-Ray, at least for the near-term.

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Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

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