
Jump to 00:08:45 to see the NaS interview and ‘Sly Fox’ performance.
PodcastingNews.com >_ Despite the fact that prices have plummeted for next-generation high-definition DVD players, the two systems — Blu-ray, developed by Sony, and HD DVD, from Toshiba, have sold only about one million stand-alone players combined.
In June, we suggested that the winner in the war between HD DVD and Blu-Ray could be Internet TV. Increasingly, it’s looking like that may be the case.
According to the New York Times, in the war over high-definition DVD formats, most buyers are sitting it out.
Neither has a clear advantage, either in terms of technology, number of movies or, increasingly, the price of the equipment. According to data from Adams Media Research, 578,000 HD DVD and 370,000 Blu-ray machines will be sold by the end of this year.
The winner of the format wars could be determined by which company has the most content, in the same way the VHS-Betamax VCR war was decided. But both formats offer about 400 movies. Studios allied with the Blu-ray camp include Columbia, Disney, Fox, Lionsgate, Miramax, New Line and Sony.
In the HD DVD camp are DreamWorks, Paramount, Universal, the Weinstein Company, and several smaller TV and motion picture companies. Warner Brothers releases movies for both systems.
In November, Howard Stringer, the Sony chairman, publicly acknowledged that the formats were in a stalemate, and predicted that neither side would fold.
There are a lot of things holding back interest in high-definition DVDs: