Good news for Sony - Bad news for the pornography industry
Published Tue, Apr 24 2007 6:40 PM
Technorati Tags: Entertainment
If you remember, not so long ago we were hearing about the imminent demise of Blu-ray. Why? Because Sony wouldn't support the pornography industry with their format. I said then that Sony had made the right moral choice. I also said that I was afraid it might doom another promising Sony technology because of their moral stand, like it did with Betamax.
Well, I'm happy to report that I was wrong about the appetite of the American consumer for pornography, or at least about the effect it will have on the DVD format wars. From The Hollywood Reporter comes this bright "blu-ray" of sunshine:
Of the high-definition discs bought by consumers in the first quarter, 70% were in the Blu-ray Disc format and 30% were HD DVD, according to sales figures provided by Home Media Magazine's market research department.
Blu-ray took the lead in February, and its percentage of total sales accelerated to the point where it accounted for nearly three out of every four high-definition discs sold in March.
What's more, when given the choice, consumers are going with Blu-ray. Warner Home Video released "The Departed" the same day, Feb. 13, in both formats. Between then and March 31, consumers bought 53,640 copies of the film on Blu-ray Disc and 31,590 on HD DVD, according to Home Media Magazine's market research, based on studio estimates and Nielsen VideoScan point-of-sale data.
Research also shows that eight of the 10 top-selling high-definition titles in the first quarter were on Blu-ray Disc. At the top of the list is Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's "Casino Royale," which sold through to consumers an estimated 59,680 units in the first quarter. The Blu-ray Disc edition of "Departed" finished second, while the HD DVD version of that Oscar-winning film placed third.
From Jan. 1-March 31, consumers bought almost 1.2 million high-definition discs -- 832,530 Blu-ray units and 359,300 HD DVDs -- according to Home Media Magazine. In March, consumers bought 335,980 Blu-ray Discs and 119,570 HD DVDs.
Blu-ray hasn't been out as long as HD DVD has and it's already leapt past it in sales. Sometimes it doesn't hurt to take a moral stand after all!
Blu-ray supporters also were quick to hail the widening gap between Blu-ray and HD DVD titles.
"It's exactly what we've said all along would happen: The strong support for Blu-ray among movie studio and equipment manufacturers means that consumers have more choices when it comes to players and titles," said Andy Parsons, chair of the Blu-ray Disc Assn.'s U.S. promotion committee. "And they're choosing Blu-ray by an ever-increasing margin."
Not supporting pornography may have hurt Sony's Betamax, but it looks like they've overcome that little problem. At least for now. Hopefully Sony will continue to hold the lead in this format war.
Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, The Virtuous Republic, The Random Yak, Leaning Straight Up, The Amboy Times, Conservative Thoughts, Rightlinx, third world county, stikNstein... has no mercy, Pirate's Cove, Planck's Constant, Right Voices, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
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Angel responded with:
 | how utterly debasing and tragic that our society condones this as normal...and encourages the trafficking of women and children worldwide!
great stuff Perri! |
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