Sources say Universal and Paramount are both going Blu
Rumors just won't stop about the future of HD DVD, and while we try not to post all of them, some seem too believable to pass up. Our friend Bill Hunt, at the Digital Bits, — still waiting on those permalinks, Bill — is reporting that his …
Context & Ripple Effects
This rumor is the direct aftershock of two moves in the corpus: Paramount's August 2007 defection to HD DVD — reportedly backed by a confirmed combined $150 million payment to Paramount and DreamWorks — and Warner Bros.' January 4 flip to Blu-ray exclusivity. Warner was the last major dual-format holdover whose catalog gave both formats theatrical weight; its exit left HD DVD dependent on exactly two big studios, Universal and Paramount.
That is why Bill Hunt's report at The Digital Bits, picked up by Engadget on January 9 and syndicated by Variety under a 'Blu-ray could win' headline, lands hard even though it remains unconfirmed: if either of those two studios flips, the exclusivity structure Paramount was paid to build in 2007 collapses, and the FT had already framed Paramount's position as a blow just a day earlier.
First-order effects
- If the reports hold, HD DVD is reduced to a hardware-led format with no major-studio exclusive backer, and Toshiba's player pitch loses the content argument entirely; Universal and Paramount would be reversing the very exclusivity deal they took $150 million to sign.
Second-order effects
- Retailers get their excuse to cut HD DVD shelf space and push Blu-ray bundles at holiday-clearance pricing, while any remaining HD DVD hardware incentives from Toshiba become price war ammunition rather than demand drivers.
Third-order effects
- The pattern points to a single high-def disc standard settled by studio alignment rather than technical merit — with the corollary that paid exclusivity deals can be unwound early when the losing side's coalition shrinks, a caution for anyone structuring similar platform-lockup payments.
The trend: Hollywood's high-definition format war is tipping decisively toward Blu-ray as each studio defection makes the next one cheaper and more likely.