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Netflix to Drop HD DVD Discs, Will Only Rent Blu-ray
Movie rental service cites studio support in decision to exclusively rent Blu-ray.
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02.11.2008 — Netflix will stop stocking HD DVD discs by the end of the year, exclusively renting out Blu-ray movies, the company announced today.

The move is a major decision for the leading online movie rental service, which until now had been promoting both formats. Netflix says that its decision is based on the fact that four of the six biggest movie studios publish on Blu-ray, arguing that the industry has picked a winner.

“The prolonged period of competition between two formats has prevented clear communication to the consumer regarding the richness of the high-def experience versus standard definition,” says Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix.

“We’re now at the point where the industry can pursue the migration to a single format, bring clarity to the consumer and accelerate the adoption of high-def. Going forward, we expect that all of the studios will publish in the Blu-ray format and that the price points of high-def DVD players will come down significantly. These factors could well lead to another decade of disc-based movie watching as the consumer’s preferred means.”

The company says that “a majority” of its subscribers have chosen Blu-ray rentals over HD DVD. Netflix currently has around 400 Blu-ray titles in stock.

No more HD DVD titles will be acquired, but they will be available for rent “until the discs’ natural life cycle takes them out of circulation in the coming months,” the company says.

The decision is obviously influenced by Warner Bros.’ choice to only publish on Blu-ray, which was announced just prior to CES in January.

Read Netflix’s press release (via Zatz Not Funny!)


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Comments

Posted by James Casley  on  02/11  at  08:23 AM

Shall we say HD-DVD is down for the count?

Posted by Lee Distad  on  02/11  at  09:01 AM

James, it sure looks that way, doesn’t it?

Posted by Kevin  on  02/11  at  09:52 AM

Interesting. I bought both formats so I could watch movies from all studios. Now I won’t be able to rent HD movies from Universal and Paramount/Dreamworks. From what I read they won’t acquire any of the new releases on HD-DVD at all. It would have been nice if they would have waited until these studios migrated to Blu-ray to make their move.

Posted by Andy  on  02/11  at  10:20 AM

I am in the same boat as Kevin. I really don’t care who wins or if anybody wins. It would just be nice to continue to get new release HD DVD titles from netflix until there is one format…

Posted by Crude Dude  on  02/11  at  11:14 AM

This is BS!

Posted by Pete  on  02/11  at  11:56 AM

Hopefully, this will hasten the adoption of a single unified format, and clearly now, that is Blu-ray.

I understand those who say they should have waited, but in reality, with Toshiba’s position seemingly being “better to hang on to a losing battle with no hope of winning than to solidify HDM in consumers’ minds” it takes this kind of action to hopefully bring about the end of this crazy situation and have a single format where all movies are available to owners of a singe device.

Posted by DEMPSEY WRIGHT  on  02/11  at  12:17 PM

I GUESS NETFLIX LOST A CUSTOMER. IT WILL SNOW IN SOUTH GEORGIA BEFORE I PAY BIG BUCKS FOR BLU[RIPOFF,JUNK]RAY DVD PLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Tim Thomas  on  02/11  at  01:03 PM

Very good decision on the part of netflix. It just goes to show you why they are leading blockbuster in the monthly dvd rental battle as well. Hopefully others will follow in their footsteps and make things a whole lot easier for those of us that want to watch our movies in high-definition and not have to settle for specific releases from individual studios.

Posted by bigbrain28  on  02/11  at  02:59 PM

I was wondering when this would happen. I have both formats, and was enjoying renting HD DVD rather than buying, with the handwriting on the wall and all. I guess the only thing to look forward to is when the HD DVD’s go on sale from Netflix for $5 each!

Posted by Confused  on  02/11  at  03:14 PM

Now I have to buy a overpriced Blu Ray player?...I don’t think so!
You just lost a customer Netflix!

Posted by Peter B.  on  02/11  at  03:17 PM

THIS MEANS THEY WILL LOSE MY BUSINESS. GOODLUCK

Posted by bigbrain28  on  02/11  at  03:31 PM

Confused,
To play devil’s advocate for a moment;
No, you don’t have to buy an overpriced player. You can either watch SD DVD upconverted on your HD DVD player (unless its the Xbox add-on via Component) or continue to rent from the existing HD DVD library they offer.

The fact that a lot of studios have gone Blu-Ray exclusive is not Netflix’s fault. The discs they would buy to rent to you are diminishing in numbers (more and more each month, sadly).

And to be fair, the BR players only feel overpriced in relation to the competition. We all know for the most part the hardware is a loss-leader and even at $400 they make little if any money. I’m happy I got an HD-A2 for $99, and got a good deal on a PS3, but I agree, the BR players seems pricey still.

So, until you feel comfortable buying a BR player (and right now I’d only recommend a PS3, due to ease of updates), just keep doing what you’ve been doing. I bet you’ll have a BR player before the movies you want are unavailable on HD DVD (exclusively).

There will come a time, unfortunately that regardless of any of us pining for HD DVD to prevail, that the movies we want in HD will be BR only. Netflix is really just trying to keep costs down so the majority can enjoy their pricing structure. Every $ invested in (what they feel) is a doomed media will affect sales/rentals in the near future.

It’s sad, but there was a time a few years back when the ONLY place in town that carried LaserDiscs closed up. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Eventually I bought a DVD player. So here we go again.

Posted by RENN  on  02/11  at  03:37 PM

Netflix has definitely lost my business. Who wants to buy such an overpriced player. And not to mention the format is not even final. No legacy support when 2.0 starts selling. Warner is still release in both formats. What are you thinking Netflix???

Posted by Soundzilla  on  02/11  at  06:37 PM

Boo-hoo. Don’t get all belligerent about it. You can stop doing business with Netflix but things aren’t going to get any easier anywhere else.

You can throw a tantrum that you can’t afford Blu-ray but eventually it will come down in price to the cheap-o prices of the last round of HD-DVD players. Be patient for pete’s sake!

Sell your HD-DVD stuff on eBay now while the going is still decent. Buy a PS3 and join the rest of us.

Posted by hybrid  on  02/11  at  09:34 PM

HDDVD sales is nonstop at amazon.com while blu-ray froze since late january 2008
hmmm. doesnt make sense.

Posted by lehigh  on  02/12  at  01:13 AM

I think I will have to go to blockbuster then, sorry Netflix you lost a customer, when I have to wait on every HD dvd I don’t really believe there wasn’t demand.  If bluray prevails, like it looks like it will now, I will probably just wait for the future of hard drive technology which will obsolete disks anyways.

Posted by bayamon62  on  02/12  at  06:57 AM

I cancel my membership ,,,hope everyone follows suit ,,,,,,my e-mail to Netflix :

Your Company Decision to eliminated HD-DVD content from your inventory has given me no other recourse as to

cancel my membership , HD-DVD was the only reason i took the Netflix plunge , i can get Sd movies at my local

publix for $1.00 and by my rental history i can do just as well as getting the movies from Netflix , i am sure you will

not miss my measly $13.00 a month i pay but hopefully all Hd-dvd renters will follow suit and you may decide to

re-think your decision regarding this topic , if not i hope Bluray rentals pick up the slack ,,,good luck with your wise

business decision ,,, thanks William

a rental Co. should have no stake in this issue other than a payoff from Sony of some kind , a deal that gives them inventory ,revenue sharing or both, so i am sure there is more than meets the eye here ,,,

Posted by Steve Harbor  on  02/12  at  09:43 AM

Gotta love watching the tin-foil hats come out.

I’m sure Netflix anticipated losing the HD DVD renters when they made this move, and decided that those were acceptable losses.

I used Netflix way before anyone had heard of HD DVD or Blu-Ray, and I’ll continue to enjoy the service.

And I’m hoping the rumors of them bringing their “Watch Now” service to the XBox 360 and PS3 are true!

Posted by Jeff Kalman  on  02/12  at  12:19 PM

I wonder what Dimitri has to say about this… Does he hear the champagne corks popping yet? wink

Posted by Soundzilla  on  02/13  at  10:06 AM

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!

(Still ROFLMAO about the tin foil hats comment)

Posted by TIM NELSON  on  02/14  at  12:13 PM

SONY HAS PAID EVERYBODY OFF SO THEIR FORMAT WILL NOT LOOSE AGAIN!!  HD-DVD HAS BETTER REVIEWS AND ALOT LESS EXPENISE TO BUY, BUT SPEND THE EXTRA MONEY ON RIPOFF-RAY SO YOU CAN SUPPORT MORE SONY BUY OUTS. GOODBYE NETFLIX, HELLO BLOCKBUSTERS REGULAR DVD’S.

Posted by OhMyGod  on  02/14  at  01:38 PM

Not sure if you idiots are more HD-DVD fans or Sony haters but you all are really stupid.  This war should have never happened.  Sony and the other dozen CE vendors proposed Blu-Ray way before HD-DVD was even a notion.  Microsoft is the reason for HD-DVD and used their ties with Toshiba to persuade them to come out with a competing format.  A clear warning to any other company in the CE industry that has close ties with Microsoft - it’s not good for your business.  Please note I’m not a Microsoft hater by any means and I’m not a Sony supporter either.  In fact, I don’t care that much for anything Sony except for their LCD displays.

No one in this industry should have been advising customers to go with either format.  It should have been done so with clear warnings that they were doing it at their own risk, that either format may go away one day.

All you HD-DVD fans should shut the hell up and give it a rest.  And if you think switching to Blockbuster is a good means of avoiding Netflix and Blu-Ray then you are a lot dumber than I suspect.  Didn’t you know Blockbuster was Blu-ray exclusive too?  Dumbasses.

Posted by bigbrain28  on  02/14  at  03:01 PM

@OhMyGod,

I couldn’t have said it better myself. How these fools think Blockbuster could be a better solution (considering the BR exclusivity they also have) is beyond me…

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