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Studio HD DVD release forecasts for the rest of '06

post #1 of 7
8/7/06 at 11:01pm
Thread Starter 
from Home Media Retailing

Quote:
Between HD DVD?s main backers, there will be as many as 150 HD DVD titles on store shelves by the end of the year. Warner, which has 21 titles already out, will release anywhere from 35 to 50 additional titles, according to Nickerson.

Universal, which is only supporting HD DVD, will have a 60-title slate by the fourth quarter, said Ken Graffeo, EVP of USHE.

Paramount, which is backing both HD DVD and its rival format, Blu-ray Disc, currently has seven HD DVD titles available, with three more streeting Aug. 8.

?We?ll probably double that by year?s end,? said Alex Carloss, EVP of worldwide marketing and entertainment for Paramount. That will include a HD DVD edition of Mission: Impossible III with a wealth of bonus features, Carloss said.

New Line, another dual-format supporter, has yet to announce specific releases, and likely won?t until studios see how well the fourth quarter plays out, according to Matt Lasorsa, EVP of marketing.

?It will be as early in 2007 as possible,? Lasorsa said. ?We don?t have the depth or breadth of the other studios, so we want to wait until there?s more player penetration.?

After that, New Line will start with day-and-date releases, adding ?strong catalog titles, such as Blade and Seven, soon after? Lasorsa said.

I mentioned these figures in another thread, but it probably deserves one all its own.
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post #2 of 7
8/7/06 at 11:28pm

Re: Studio HD DVD release forecasts for the rest of '06

Got a link?
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post #3 of 7
8/8/06 at 2:56am

Re: Studio HD DVD release forecasts for the rest of '06

Here is one article about that press conference.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...t_Out_2006/163

Here are some other quotes:

http://homemediaretailing.com/


HD DVD backers are banking on the fourth quarter.

Already, there are “tens of thousands” of HD DVD players in homes across America, said a panel of format supporters from Paramount Home Entertainment, New Line Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video, at the Entertainment Media Expo held Monday in Universal City, Calif.

“We’re still projecting Q4 to be a very vibrant business for hardware and software,” said Steve Nickerson, SVP of WHV. “There are as many consumer electronics HD DVD players in the market as there were standard-definition DVD players at the end of 1997.”

The wild cards, Nickerson said, are Xbox and HD DVD-enabled computers.

“We can build a business models around CE players alone,” he said.

Universal, which is only supporting HD DVD, will have a 60-title slate by the fourth quarter, said Ken Graffeo, EVP of USHE.

On the hardware side, there’s a small but growing sample of HD DVD-enabled homes, numbering in the tens of thousands, backers said, though they declined to give specific sales figures.

The lower-priced Toshiba HD DVD player — at $500 — is outselling the “step-up” version — at $1,000 — by 5-to-1. But that ratio is largely attributed to the fact that the pricier model has a much more limited distribution, said Jodi Sally, VP of digital and AV marketing for Toshiba.

So far, backers are judging the success of HD DVD’s “soft launch” — now four months in — by consumer reaction more than by return on investment, panelists said.

The hardware adoption is about as expected, Graffeo said. But the reaction, appreciation and approval studios are hearing from key consumers is better than expected.

“They really do see the difference,” Graffeo said. “That’s what’s exceeded our expectations.”
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post #4 of 7
8/10/06 at 7:43pm

Re: Studio HD DVD release forecasts for the rest of '06

If there are going to be that many titles at the end of the year. And as long as they are good titles with awsum new audio tracks. Then I guess I will be buying a number of HD titles just after New Years Day

I can't wait to see what else is going to be released towards the end of the year

HD Titles like: (Blu-ray titles would need to use VC-1) - in DTS-HD or Dolby True HD

Terminator 3
Band Of Brothers
Battlestar Galactica
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl
Lord Of The Rings
King Kong
Batman Begins
Braveheart
Gladiator
Master And Commander
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post #5 of 7
8/10/06 at 8:53pm

Re: Studio HD DVD release forecasts for the rest of '06

Dave,

I think you can scratch Pirates of the Caribbean off of your list, Disney realeased a statement, no Pirates or Cars in 2006.
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post #6 of 7
8/10/06 at 9:32pm

Re: Studio HD DVD release forecasts for the rest of '06

I thought it was no Pirates 2 in '06. He's talking about the first one.
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post #7 of 7
8/10/06 at 10:18pm

Re: Studio HD DVD release forecasts for the rest of '06

I think it's a pretty safe bet based on Disney's already announced titles (Dinosaur, 8 Below etc.) and the recent announcement of no Pirates 2 or Cars in 2006, that there will be no Pirates 1 in 2006.
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