Warner Bros. To Release DVDs Only in Blu-Ray Format

Jan 05, 04:23 PM

Silicon Valley, Jan. 4 (Jiji Press)--Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. of the United States said Friday it will release its next- generation DVD titles exclusively in the Blu-ray Disc format beginning later this year, reversing its strategy of supporting two rival formats.

With the exclusive endorsement of Warner Bros., the Blu-ray Disc format appears to be winning over Hollywood, which holds the key to the battle for the next-generation optical disc standard.

Other major movie studios, including Walt Disney Co., Twentieth Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., have already thrown their support behind Blu-ray, which is promoted by a group led by Japan's Sony Corp. .

Only two major movie companies--Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures--currently support the rival High-Definition DVD format, pushed by a Toshiba Corp. -led consortium.

Barry Mayer, chairman and chief executive officer of Warner Bros. said in a statement, "The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger."

"We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers and most importantly consumers," Mayer said.END