NEWS: Warner Bros goes Blu-ray-only from May

After a period of releasing movies on both Blu-ray and HD DVD, Warner Bros has announced it will only release high-definition movies on Blu-ray from May this year.

The announcement, made today, cites 'consumer demand' as the reason for the move.

Since Paramount dropped its two-platform policy in 2007, Warner had been the only studio committed to both formats, but the company says it will cease this policy in May, and will now produce discs in just DVD and Blu-ray.

Jeff Bewkes, president and CEO of Time Warner, the parent company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, said that 'Today’s decision by Warner Bros. to distribute in a single format comes at the right time and is the best decision both for consumers and Time Warner.'

And Kevin Tsujihara, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group president added that “A two-format landscape has led to consumer confusion and indifference toward high definition, which has kept the technology from reaching mass adoption and becoming the important revenue stream that it can be for the industry,

'Consumers have clearly chosen Blu-ray, and we believe that recognizing this preference is the right step in making this great home entertainment experience accessible to the widest possible audience.'

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Andrew has written about audio and video products for the past 20+ years, and been a consumer journalist for more than 30 years, starting his career on camera magazines. Andrew has contributed to titles including What Hi-Fi?, GramophoneJazzwise and Hi-Fi CriticHi-Fi News & Record Review and Hi-Fi Choice. I’ve also written for a number of non-specialist and overseas magazines.