Re: BREAKING NEWS!! Warner Brothers is now Blu-ray Exclusive
From an article in tomorrow's (01/07/08) Wall Street Journal:Quote:
| The outcome of the high-definition DVD battle remained uncertain until the final days before the annual Consumer Electronics Show, kicking off now in Las Vegas, where both sides like to make big announcements concerning their formats. Toshiba was still working hard last week to court Warner and News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox to use HD DVD exclusively. Warner was considering it, people familiar with the matter say, but when it realized Fox wouldn't leave Blu-ray, decided to go with Blu-ray exclusively as well, to bring an end to the format war. A Blu-ray win is important for Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer, who made it part of his mission to beef up the content and software offerings in a notoriously hardware-centric company when he took the helm 2½ years ago. As Sony nears completion of a three-year turnaround plan, Mr. Stringer also told reporters in Tokyo last month that driving innovation would be his next goal. Over the last couple of years, Mr. Stringer, a former movie executive, was involved in many discussions with studios Sony was courting, people familiar with the matter say. Toshiba, which conceded Friday that the Warner Bros. move is a "setback," is expected to continue making its case for HD DVD, at least for awhile. Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc., plans to continue to support the HD DVD format, a spokeswoman said yesterday. The other remaining Hollywood supporter, General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures, declined to comment. |
This is the first credible published evidence I've seen that Fox was somehow involved in the Warner deal. But the article only states that Toshiba was actively courting Fox, not that Fox was seriously considering going HD-DVD exclusive or "playing" Toshiba by promising one thing and then doing another.
Also of note: Toshiba and Paramount look to continue fighting the fight. But as for Universal . . . ?


