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HD DVD Group Responds to Netflix, Best Buy News
Tue Feb 12, 2008 at 09:00 AM ETTags: Best Buy, Netflix (all tags)
The HD DVD Promotions Group has issued a statement following a pair of news stories Monday that saw two leading brands in the home entertainment industry endorsing Blu-ray.
The statement (which was first published by CNET late Monday) calls Netflix's decision to exclusively back Blu-ray "unfortunate," while emphasizing that although Best Buy will recommend Blu-ray, the retailer will continue to stock HD DVD.
The complete text of the HD DVD Group's statement follows below:
"We have long held the belief that HD DVD is the best format for consumers based on quality and value, and with more than 1 million HD DVD players on the market, it's unfortunate to see Netflix make the decision to only stock Blu-ray titles going forward. While the Best Buy announcement says they will recommend Blu-ray, at least they will continue to carry HD DVD and offer consumers a choice at retail."
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
- Related links:
- Best Buy kicks HD DVD while it's down [CNET]
- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- Best Buy to Recommend Blu-ray over HD DVD (Feb 11, 2008)
- Netflix Goes Blu-ray Exclusive (Feb 11, 2008)
Netflix Goes Blu-ray Exclusive
Mon Feb 11, 2008 at 12:30 PM ETTags: Netflix, High-Def Disc Rentals (all tags)
Online rentailer Netflix has announced it will drop support of the HD DVD format, and will exclusively stock Blu-ray discs.
Citing the decision by four of the six major movie studios to publish high-def DVD titles only in the Sony-developed Blu-ray format, Netflix said that it would cease purchasing new HD DVD stock immediately, and that it would phase out existing HD DVD stock by year's end.
As we've previously reported, Netflix was the first major rentailer to support both high-def disc format, stocking HD DVD beginning in April of 2006, and Blu-ray in June of that same year.
"The prolonged period of competition between two formats has prevented clear communication to the consumer regarding the richness of the high-def experience versus standard definition," said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. "From the Netflix perspective, focusing on one format will enable us to create the best experience for subscribers who want high- definition to be an important part of how they enjoy our service."
The company says that although only a portion of Netflix subscribers have elected to receive high-def discs, a majority of those subscribers have chosen Blu-ray over HD DVD.
(Thanks to all who sent in tips related to this story)
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
- Related links:
- Netflix, Citing a Clear Signal From the Industry, Will Carry High-Def DVDs Only in Blu-ray Format [Press Release]
- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- Netflix Adds Blu-ray to Rental Menu (May 15, 2006)
- Netflix Adds HD DVD Rentals (Mar 13, 2006)
Report: Netflix Users Favor HD DVD
Thu Oct 04, 2007 at 01:11 PM ETTags: Netflix, High-Def Disc Rentals (all tags)
A new report indicates that although only a tiny percentage of Netflix users are high-def early adopters, among them HD DVD appears to be favored over Blu-ray by a factor of more than two-to-one.
According to data released by web metrics site Compete.com (see chart below), out of an average 14 million monthly visitors to Netflix from June-August of 2007, only 48,000 (0.3%) viewed the site's genre pages for either HD DVD or Blu-ray.
Curiously, although those who looked at Blu-ray titles outnumbered those looking at HD-DVD by a factor of 1.8 to 1, among those who set an high-def format as their preferred disc format, HD-DVD was chosen over Blu-ray by a factor of 2.4 to 1.
Based on these numbers, Compete says those who looked at the HD-DVD genre were 4.4 times more likely than Blu-ray browsers to actually set this as their preferred format.
The numbers would appear to contradict recent statements made by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who said in a late August interview that customer demand for both formats at Netflix was "pretty evenly split."
Compete.com estimates US web traffic using a sample group of two million web users.
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See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
- Related links:
- Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD: Does anyone care? [Compete.com Blog]
- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- Netflix: Demand for Blu-ray and HD DVD Evenly Split, But Tiny (Aug 24, 2007)
Netflix CEO Urges Studios to Support Both HD-DVD, Blu-Ray
Tue Apr 25, 2006 at 02:21 PM ETTags: High-Def Disc Rentals, Netflix (all tags)
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is reaching out to all of the major Hollywood studios
in an effort to
bring an end to the high-def DVD format war.Video Business reports that during the company's first-quarter earnings conference call Monday, Hastings encouraged the studios to release their movie libraries on both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray to make consumers feel comfortable enough to upgrade from standard DVD, or risk leaving both next-gen formats dead in the water.
"Protracted competition will hurt the adoption of high-definition DVD," Hastings reportedly said. "If all studios were to embrace both formats agnostically, consumers would be more comfortable making a format decision based on hardware pricing and features."
He also urged the studios to follow the example set by Warner Home Video and Paramount Home Entertainment, who are supporting both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, which Hastings called a "practical solution" to the high-def DVD stand-off.
Hastings comments come one month after Netflix announced they would offer their customers the option of renting both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray titles. The service added HD-DVD rentals concurrent with the format's launch last week, and is planning to add Blu-Ray titles when its first disc titles are expected to arrive next month from Sony.
- Related links:
- Hastings Urges End to High-Def War [Video Business]
- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- Netflix Adds HD-DVD Rentals (Mar 13, 2006)
Netflix Adds HD-DVD Rentals
Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 01:49 PM ETTags: Netflix, High-Def Disc Rentals (all tags)
With little fanfare, Netflix has added the ability for its customers
to set
up their accounts to rent HD-DVD discs. The company had announced earlier this year that it was planning to rent both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs this year. As the weblog Hacking Netflix describes in detail, customers can access the setup option from the "Your Account" page, and after adjusting the preferred default format to DVD or HD-DVD, a new column called "Format" appears in their queue.
This news comes on the same day that Warner announced probable delays in its first HD-DVD disc releases, which were originally expected March 28. So while it's great for high-def DVD enthusiasts to have an HD-DVD rental option at Netflix, it will be even greater once there are actually a few titles available to rent. Here's hoping that's soon.
- Related links:
- Netflix Adds HD DVD Rentals [Hacking Netflix]
- Earlier on High-Def Digest:
- Netflix to Rent High-Def DVDs (Feb 24, 2006)
- HD-DVD Outlook Not Good as Warner Cancels Online Orders, Says Delays Likely (Mar 13, 2006)
Netflix to Rent High-Def DVDs
Fri Feb 24, 2006 at 01:02 PM ETTags: Netflix, High-Def Disc Rentals (all tags)
This morning, Netflix, the nation's leading
online DVD rental service, announced they intend to offer HD-DVD discs
to their customers beginning in March. The company also plays to support
the upcoming Blu-Ray format when it is expected to launch sometime later
in 2006.The Netflix announcement is good news for early adopters of either format. Both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs are expected to sell at a premium at launch, so a strong rental option will no doubt be a boon for those who want to enjoy their hot new high-def players but not have to pay $40 to own 'Mission: Impossible 2.'
- Related links:
- Netflix Prepares to offer HD-DVD, Blu-Ray Rentals Online [TG Daily]
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