Home Media Magazine - September 30 - October 6, 2007 - (Page 14)

COMMENTARY www.homemediamagazine.com THE BUZZ BY KYRA KUDICK, ASSOCIATE EDITOR Father Knows Best … About High-Def Trends his month Home Media Magazine reported a study (“Indifference Reigns,” HM, Sept. 2-8, 2007) that indicated 48% of consumer respondents didn’t give a darn about buying either Blu-ray Discs or HD DVDs; 58% with an HDTV said they had no need for an HD player; and 27% said they would wait out the format war for a clear winner. Thank you, Warner Home Video, for conducting a study that proves what I have been thinking all along — the average consumer does not care about this stupid high-definition format war. I admit my opinion was not based on scientific research. It was more of a general consumer observation: my daddy’s buying habits. Laugh all you want, but I swear the man is the perfect example of the average consumer. T [MY FATHER] SAID IT JUST MADE SENSE TO BUY A FLAT-SCREEN HDTV [COST-WISE] AND AS FOR PURCHASING A HIGH-DEF PLAYER? I BELIEVE HIS EXACT WORDS WERE, ‘WHY? THE DVD PLAYER WORKS JUST FINE.’ Recently, my dad told me the family TV died (after more than a decade), and he went to Sears to purchase a new one. He said it just made sense to buy a flatscreen HDTV because the cost-effective models were almost the same price as tube TVs, and he might as well be prepared for the future of high-def. That’s my dad — always prepared. He did not, however, upgrade his satellite TV service to an HD package. Why? His cost-benefit analysis did not favor Direct TV. Not enough HD channels for the price. There- Kyra Kudick’s e-mail address is kkudick@questex.com fore, he is waiting for more channels. And as for purchasing a high-def player? I believe his exact words were, “Why? The DVD player works just fine.” I explained that the combination of standard DVD player and HDTV does not mean he is watching discs in high-def. He already knew that and didn’t much care. His cost-benefit analysis didn’t favor the high-def players, either. He plans to just wait until one format wins. I suspect he will wait until his personal cost-benefit analysis favors HD DVD. I predict that will happen this Christmas when Wal-Mart offers an HD DVD player for less than $200. He will buy it, watch his standard DVDs in up-converted high-def and continue to wait for the future of HD. READERS’ FORUM I The following letter is in response to Stephanie Prange’s editorial “Of High-Def Opportunities Lost …” (HM Sept. 23-29), in which she said the format war has forced consumers to buy two different formats and players in order to get all the movies they want on highdefinition disc: O N LI N E PO LL R E S U LTS I Question nection from day one. The HDi code used for interactive programming on HD DVD (which, by the way, was developed by Microsoft and Disney, the latter of which so inexcusably supports the competing format) is acknowledged to be far simpler to write and much more inexpensively implemented. In contrast, Blu-ray has staked its success almost entirely on the outcome of the PlayStation 3 gaming system and provided studios such as Disney and Fox (who even today refer to this as a major reason for supporting Blu-ray over HD DVD) big promises for sales targets and attach-rate sales, which have dismally failed to meet said promised targets. The PS3 gaming system is consistently at the bottom of the sales chart, and all credible research has suggested that the attach rate for the PS3 is much less than originally promised by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). Additionally, Blu-ray is still constantly working on developing and launching interactive features based on the much-morecomplex-to-use Javascript, and the companies have been launching players even this month that clearly won’t meet the requirements they are mandated by the BDA to meet by the end of October. It is also felt strongly by many in the industry, as recently stated by a Denon technical official, that when the first batch of interactive Blu-ray titles actually hit the market, the entire first- and second-generation players owned by thousands will never be capable of utilizing these new special features. If one logically considers all these factors and then looks at the rhetoric from Disney’s Iger or Murdoch from Fox, one can easily conclude that what they state publicly indicates either a profound lack of knowledge on their parts or, probably more likely, a desperation borne by knowledge that their chosen format will ultimately fail and burdened by their ill-advised comments in the past 10 months. Remember, even the head of Disney had told his shareholders in spring 2006 (as widely reported) that they would [consider] publishing in HD DVD also. It seems that now he is too arrogant and uncaring for the future financial health of the company to do what is clearly best for Disney: Publish in HD DVD and market his company as the definitive high-def studio. David D’Oliveira Toronto, Ontario, Canada Which fourth-quarter title will do best on home video? Time to Back HD DVD Thanks for a very important editorial. From a simple business-logic perspective, and actually from almost any other perspective, HD DVD is the format all the studios should unite behind immediately. Paramount knows this. Even Warner knows this and hopefully will follow through with declaring their HD DVD exclusivity by no later than CES. After all, would it not be better to sacrifice a few extra dollars of revenue from Blu-ray Discs for the long-term goal of assuring high-def media success by giving one format the support it needs to win and spurring on mass adoption thereafter? Here are just a few of the logical reasons why all studios ought to unite quickly behind HD DVD: 1) HD DVD is the format voted democratically as the officially endorsed successor to DVD by the DVD Forum, of which Sony, Panasonic and Disney are all members. 2) There are more HD DVD replication lines (more than 50) in existence, and the cost for refitting an existing DVD replication line to enable HD DVD production runs less than $300,000, as compared to several million dollars for any new Blu-ray line. Besides, Blu-ray cannot ever be run on an existing DVD production line. 3) All surveys (including the recent one from The NPD Group) support HD DVD as the more recognized name and indicate that a number of people would buy HD media once the price is low enough. It is clearly undisputed that HD DVD has a significant price advantage for hardware, and this puts it much more easily within reach of the average consumer and, along with reason No. 2 above, gives HD DVD the greater chance for mass adoption and ability for the studios to keep up with a much higher prospective demand by the buying public should mass adoption occur (just witness how many more BD titles — especially ones being pressed on BD50 double layers — are being delayed due to production issues than HD DVD titles). 4) HD DVD is a fully “baked” format that launched with interactive features and was supported by Ethernet con- I Answers* A: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End 23% B: Spider-Man 3 29% C: Shrek the Third 5% D: Transformers 32% E: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 11% Go to www.homemediamagazine.com and vote on this week’s question. *Results based on Web site respondents We Want to Hear From You! Please send letters to: Editor, Home Media Magazine 201 East Sandpointe Ave., Suite 500 Santa Ana, CA 92707 E-mail: HomeMediaMagazine@questex.com Fax: 714.338.6712 Include name, business address (city and state) and telephone number. Letters are subject to editing. Join Us Online: www.homemediamagazine.com Visit our Web site to participate in discussion boards and weekly polls on the latest industry issues. 14 Home Media Magazine September 30–October 6, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com

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Home Media Magazine - September 30 - October 6, 2007

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