NYT Confirms Movie Studios Paid to Support HD DVD

An anonymous reader writes "The New York Times has confirmed the story that Paramount and DreamWorks Animation were paid $150 million for an exclusive HD-DVD deal that will last 18 months. 'Paramount and DreamWorks Animation declined to comment. Microsoft, the most prominent technology company supporting HD DVDs, said it could not rule out payment but said it wrote no checks. "We provided no financial incentives to Paramount or DreamWorks whatsoever," said Amir Majidimehr, the head of Microsoft's consumer media technology group.'" We discussed Paramount's defection on Monday.

Comments

Re:Yeah... So?

[pato101]

They've simply learned that the market supporting two high-end video formats simultaneously is unlikely (see Beta vs VHS) and so are unwilling to invest in a format that will soon die.

Easy choice then: just take the technically worst one. Or just take the non-SONY one.

Re:Yeah... So?

[Daetrin]

Did anyone really expect anything different?

I for one am _very_ disappointed in Microsoft! Haven't they learned anything?!?

If you want a movie studio to support your next generation media format you don't pay them for the support! You just buy the studio! This kind of inefficiency in leveraging market share is totally unacceptable!