Blockbuster to Support Blu-ray
The video retailer will not carry HD DVDs in 1,450 stores.
By Phillip Swann
Washington, D.C. (June 17, 2007) -- Video rental giant Blockbuster will only rent HDTV DVDs in the Blu-ray format in 1,450 stores next month when it expands its high-def service.
That's according to an exclusive report today from the Associated Press.
The retailer has tested both formats in approximately 250 stores for the last several months. But Blockbuster officials say 70 percent of the high-def rentals are Blu-ray.
"The consumers are sending us a message. I can't ignore what I'm seeing," Matthew Smith, Blockbuster's senior vice president of merchandising, tells AP.
Who rents movies at Blockbuster anymore? The last time I rented a movie from my neighborhood Blockbuster is when Pioneer's laser disc was still popular. With Netflix being #1 in the rental business and the popularity of HD on demand increasing on cable, I wouldn't give much credence to anything Blockbuster might do these days. Also, you might consider, in order to save money and because of a decrease in traffic, Blockbuster stores all across America are downsizing the space they rent from realtors, this could be the "real" reason Blockbuster has decided to go with one format. I still feel it is still too early to say who's ahead or who's winning in the HD format war. If you were to tell me both Blockbuster and Netflix were going to discontinue HD-DVDs then and only then would I be concerned. This decision that Blockbuster has made is "NOT" a blow to HD-DVDs(those that are renting Blu-Ray from Blockbuster stores are the "early adopters" and not "mainstream" and I feel it is a mistake for any manager to make a format decision at this time). As far as buying "Blu-Ray" is concerned, they are way too high in price for the average consumer to consider buying in great numbers. And although the Blu-Ray numbers are high(only because an on-slaught of blockbusters are in print), I predict HD-DVDs will catch up and pass by Christmas '07. Those studios who are only supporting Blu-Ray will see this trend and offer their prints for the production of HD-DVDs(you are already starting to see this trend). One question that comes to mind.....which of the two formats is "cheaper" to produce AND sell in great numbers? That is what will affect the BOTTOM LINE and the true winner of the format war.
Don/Sunshine State........FRED THOMPSON FOR PRESIDENT 2008
I don't know who is going to win this format war, nor do I care at this point. All I know is I hope one wins soon because I would really like to be able get into HD movies at home.
And yes Dlemore, I agree: Thompson in '08
How many times already has Blu-Ray or Swanni declared that "the format war is over" or it's the beginning of the end? Yet here we are and nothing has been decided yet. Yes, Sony has sold one million PS3's but they're dying a slow financial death with that game unit.
Does anyone still rent from Blockbuster anyways?
First I would like to say, I am a blu-ray supporter and this doesnt really surprise me.
To the comment about netflix, I consider them the least trust worthy, 90% of what they sent me took over 5 days and was broken... so I have little faith in them.
To Walt, I think its the consumers like you who will eventually determine who goes home a winner.
To C, Thats your opinion, I feel this war will not be going on too much longer, btw that gaming machine rocks... :)
I like to elaborate, I believe the additional bandwidth, studio support, and rate of players in house will be the final straw for this format war.
_
Chris Cantrell
I agree with Don that the price of the players is going to make the difference more than what Blockbuster offers. I have not been to Blockbuster in 10 years or so. I have a Blockbuster $5 card and have never used it.
His point is validated by the how much the sales trend has shifted since the HD DVD players have dropped their prices. Sony has had the upper hand until recently. They need to wake up to the price reality or they are going to lose this format war.
I am waiting like most people to see who wins, but with the HD DVD prices coming closer to realistic levels, it looks like we are getting closer to a winner.
I also agree with Don and Fred for President. Maybe it has something to do with also being from Florida?
I use netflix and I do not use my friendly neighborhood Blockbuster so reading that blockbuster has decided that blu-ray is THE format for high definition dvd's means nothing. Blockbuster has been having financial problems for awhile and it shows. The last time I set foot into one of their stores the employee waiting on me practically begged me to sign up for their online service. She seemed like a nice person so I asked her why she was giving me this desparate pitch. Her response was that they had a quota to meet and if they didn't sign up X amount of subscribers they would get a bad evaluation and could possibly lose their job. I felt sorry for the kid, but not sorry enough to sign up. I immediately went home and joined netflix and I haven't been to a blockbuster since. I now get my hd-dvd movies when they are available and, aside from from a few shipping problems, I have no complaints.
First of all, Blockbuster, although a large contributor to movie rentals, is not the king of the hill when it comes to their sales (I believe that's still Wal-mart).
Secondly, I'm not going to pay an extra $200 for a player just so that I can rent from my local Blockbuster. Hey, if they don't stock my format, there are plenty of other places that do and they would be glad to have my business.
And last but not least: let's not forget that Blockbuster is not just in the movie rental business. A large portion of their business is game rentals so perhaps there were ulterior motives to Blockbuster's decision (maybe an exclusivity deal or discounts on PS3 games).
I'd love to see a winner in this silly Hi-Def fight, but I don't think that it will be settled by Blockbuster.
Blockbuster may not be the 800lb gorilla anymore, but my perception is that after Netflix' throttling fiasco and online only approach Blockbuster is catching up fast. I personally love the instant gratification of being able to drop of my mail order dvd's for a new release at the store on the corner (that you would probably have been waiting over a week for online).
The main point is that the Blockbuster deal is just another brick in the wall. Sony has hung it out there by selling the PS3 at a loss, but they are already so invested in the Blu-Ray format as a movie studio and hardware maker that the payoff for them if hd dvd goes under will be huge. They are the Ronald Reagan of the hi-def cold war, spending the other side into submission ;)
In my opinion Microsoft doomed hd dvd by not building it into the Xbox 360 from the get-go. The proverbial first move that lost the whole game; not immediately apparent then but it will become so in retrospect. Yeah, it lowered their unit price up front and probably thereby spurred their initial sales but I think it was short sighted IF they cared about hd dvd's success. If you look at the Blockbuster press announcement they point out that their decision was based almost solely on first quarter Blu-Ray vs hd dvd rentals. You can only attribute their numbers to the huge installed base of Blu-Ray players Sony created by integrating Blu-Ray into the PS3. Otherwise their is really nothing to definitively recommend one format over the other.
Either way it's no skin of MS' nose since all they have to do after hd dvd folds is come out with another add on player for the 360, this time in Blu-Ray. They can even be "generous" and offer free or discounted players to anyone who bought their hd dvd already.
the true winner will be the one who can hit the affordable price point first,at the moment neither one is offering pocket change prices for their players.
Boy, some people are really in denial. Blockbuster choosing Blu-Ray means nothing?? Let me first say I own and enjoy both formats currently. I think they both look and sound great. However, I would consider this decision a huge blow against HD-DVD. Does anyone understand how Blockbuster Total Access works? Blockbuster is nowhere near closing down their B&M stores and they are currently #2 behind Netflix in the online rental business. If you want to say this isn't the final blow that's fine but to say it means nothing pretty much discredits the rest of your post.
I dont see this as being much of a threat. I cant think of one person i know that doesnt use netflix.
To: D
I don't know if you know it or not but Netflix offers on-demand equal to your subscription plan. For example: you can use your computer to watch movies on line and also receive movies via by mail. I have the 3 unlimited plan, for $18.00 this gives me 3 out at a time unlimited movies by mail PLUS 18 hours(of a great selection) to watch on my computer and/or tv. It is my understanding regarding Blockbuster's Total Access.....you can return your by-mail-movie to your neighborhood Blockbuster store but whatever movie you pickup you are subject to paying for any movie that is not returned by the due date. Also, if Blockbuster continues to reduce the size of their stores....your selection will be limited.
Don/Sunshine State......Also, remember the Alamo.
Does the endorsement of a decaying video rental franchise really merit this much press?
Who cares. It is their stores, not online, which is where most of their buisness going. This is like a race car driver who drives a Chevy on the track saying they support Ford because they drive their Escort to the store once a week. I'm sure the 70% was in a slanted study, if done at all, as the numbers do not support their claim. I'm certain you will hear something like, BB is getting new releases faster then everyone else, mainly from big supporters like Sony and Disney.
As for the PS3 helping, make up your mind instead of waffling like a teenage girl over who should be your crush of the week. Does it help, does it hurt, I seem to read a different article each week on this site. It has been established that the PS3 has done minimal for the war, and mostly just hurt the sales of the PS3 by including the player in the console. Not to mention, when was the last time you heard that Xbox 360 HD DVD, which is one of the hotest selling addons. Even if 1/8 of the xbox owners bought one, you'd still probably have as many as the PS3 BRs, and if you buy it, you know you're getting it for movies, unlike a lot of gaming PS3.
With the numbers "stacked" in there favor, why is there still a 50/50 split in any store you go in? Maybe because Universal has put out more movies then all of them combined. Ah, that's right, the Disney CEO stated there is more BR in retail stores then HD DVD. I guess his servants just tell him what he wants to hear in hope that they'll get take the Rolls out next time they get groceries. Every time I go to the major retail stores, it's 50/50.
As for gap closing, it has always been 40 to 50% less, which is still the case. Gap or not, it still has a long way to go, as had been posted on this site. That 200 dollar difference is 6 to 10 movies for your collection.
Since the CD(Philips/Sony worked with each other), when was the last Format war that Sony won and or Format of sony's that was used? History tends to repeat itself, especially since Sony is not in touch with its consumers.
Yes, BR holds more, yes it has higher bandwith. If these supposed qualities mattered, people would have bought Betamax, Laser Disc, DAT, DVD audio, etc., etc. People want usability, durrability, and cheap. In those 3 categories, HD-DVD gets a hattrick, while Sony gets nothing(Have they standardized their java menuing yet?).
Despite my incesent complaining about sony and my loathing them since they released a trojan on the world so they could validate your copy of a cd was valid, while giving tons of virus writers another way to steal your credit car, SS, bank account, etc., it be nice if one side would just roll over and die so I can by movies. I think either side could win at this point, and I don't feel like having Betamax branded on my forehead.
I think it's sad that when this HD-DVD war started the media didn't tell consumers that the better choice was HD-DVD not Blue-ray. This war is all about profits Studio's and Manufacture's went with Blue-ray because of dollar signs not whats best for the consumer. And sure Blue-ray price has come down but it will never be cheaper than HD-DVD.
And if HD-DVD had the same support Blue-ray has war over.
Bob you seem to have your facts wrong. How is HDDVD a better choice? pricewise the players currently have an advantage, but disc prices are roughly the same and bluray is coming down in price. Technically if you argue HDDVD is better you are just ignorant, bluray is technically the superior format, although given not by a huge amount.
I for one don't need any kind of High def DVD the old one are fine.I am one consumer that is tired of format changes. 8/trak to CD VHS to Laserdisk then DVD now high def everytime there is a format change the poor consumer has to spend 100's and 1000's to update only to have it change again.I for one am very tired of spending money. Let's find a stopping place......PLEASE Woody
Toshiba's entry level player retails for 399 not 299 as it says in the article. 299 is a sale/street price.
I have to admit, the recent price of Toshiba's new HD-DVD player at $299 (plus 5 moives)is enticing. From everything I've read, the quality of the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are pretty much even. Along with the price, the ability to connect to the internet and download firmware updates and eventually additional content such as trailers makes the Toshiba machine very attractive.
Also, IMHO, given the number of hi-def TV's being sold today, if this format war was resolved and the price was reasonable, I think you'd see the same rate of purchases for the winning format as you did when DVD was first introduced. I may not be a rocket scientist, but there's a boat load of money to be had by these companies if the consumer didn't think he was going to be stuck with the Betamax of the 21st century. What's the point of hi-def TV if the only hi-def content is the limited channel line-up being offered by Comcast?
It seems like some of the reporting going on today is quite different than what Blockbuster is saying.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=3 ... amp;play=1
You people who think this means nothing are CRAZY!
Personally I don't rent anything at blockbuster, netflix or anywhere else, nor do I own a hiDef player yet. Most people that have found a site such as this probaly would use an online service such as Netflix but what about millions of bass ackwards :) people that still don't know what the Internet is none-the-less how to use it. Where do you think they rent DVD's from? Blockbuster doesn't support 1700 stores with no revenue. This is definitely a big blow fro HD-DVD.
I agree that this is a blow to HD DVD, however, only a nick or scratch. Blue Ray is failing miserabily in terms of disk sales (per capita of hardware owners), and if that trend continues, the format will also fail. In addition, with higher hardware prices on Blu ray equipment, coupled by a growing base of HD DVD players...this trend could change just as quickly as it started.
Blu-Ray is a silly name. I don't have a Blu-Ray TV, I have an HD-TV. So, why wouldn't I buy an HD-DVD player?
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