Live from the 2009 Blu-ray Disc Association press conference
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted Jan 8th 2009 7:02PM
posted Jan 8th 2009 7:02PM
We're here waiting for the 2009 Blu-ray Disc Association press conference to start and the first thing we noticed is that despite more studios going Blu in 2008, the panel is noticeably smaller. But what's more interesting is that there aren't any executives on the panel, only analysts.
4:52PM Andy says it isn't gone, just late getting here.
4:52PM Out very own Steeve Kim asks what ever happend to managed copy.
4:51PM This is up to the studios.
4:51PM Are there any plans to reduce the licensing fees for the AACS?
4:51PM Andy says this is starting to sound like a customer service issue, but it is really up to the studio.
4:50PM Andy says it is up to the studio and they may be doing it for quality or bonus features.
4:49PM The question is asked why TV series box sets are still using up so many discs and not taking advantage of the quantity?
4:48PM Andy goes on and mentions a few reasons why discs are better, but doesn't really answer the question.
4:47PM Tyler Pruitt from Format War Central wants to know if those who will want to own, will go disc and those who rent will go with downloads?
4:45PM Andy says he'll be happy when we get everyone looking at 1080p first.
4:45PM What about going beyond 1080p? Who is working on anything beyond 1080p?
4:44PM Dave Cowl from Blu-raystats.com asks about market share against DVD for the Dark Knight.
4:43PM Andy compares these predictions to the predictions of paperless offices, and we know how that turned out.
4:42PM Response to those who believe downloads will make Blu-ray irrelevant? Andy says he doesn't agree, and that the panel kinda already covered it. But ultimately the two aren't mutually exclusive.
4:41PM Does the 10.7 million players include PCs? No.
4:41PM Q&A time.
4:40PM A product announcement roundup slide comes up with 18 new products, 11 of which are BD Live.
4:39PM And Andy comes back on stage.
4:39PM Still waiting for something else to write, but at this point no one is really saying anything that we don't know they'd say. Discs are better, people like discs, etc.
4:33PM Ok, at this point things are really getting repetitive. Each member of the panel is now talking about what might help Blu-ray take over DVD; like BD Live, Digital Copy etc.
4:31PM Adam says Apple TV sales are tiny and Vudu is even "tinyer", but does believe that Netflix has the best chance. He also points out that because this is older catalog titles it isn't much competition for Blu-ray at this point.
4:30PM Paul says its easy to get optimistic about new technologies like digital downloads, but consumers aren't as quick to adopt new technology. Societal tendencies change slowly.
4:28PM Richard doesn't think that it is possible to build out broadband in the next five years to a point that can compete with the throughput of packaged media.
4:27PM He believes that both mediums will co-exist and be used by different people and for different uses. He believes that going to the video store is part of the experience.
4:26PM According to Adams, the internet downloadable content has gone from zero, to about half a billion, which even combined with cable's VOD it isn't enough to make an impact on packaged media.
4:25PM Adams has been tracking the business for 25 years and it has always been predicted that digital would replace packaged, but it hasn't.
4:24PM Paul believes the sales of Blu-ray hardware will continue to outpace DVDs adoption and that the prices are much more competitive than predicted.
4:23PM Adams believes that if it wasn't for the economic conditions that Blu-ray would be making up for the new loses in DVD.
4:22PM Richard said consumers surveyed said that the difference in Blu-ray over DVD is clear and that even family and friends could see it. He also attributes this to the acceptance of HDMI and says that more Blu-ray players are connected properly than cable STBs.
4:20PM Richard says he expects Blu-ray discs to sale even better, more like five or six times more sales in 2009 than 2008.
4:20PM Adams believes that they'll become more cautions about software sales due to the economic crisis, but still expects to see Blu-ray sales to double or triple.
4:17PM Tom Adams is up next and says that the incredible November helped Blu-ray exceed his expectations. Wal-Mart was a big part of this, with its inexpensive player.
4:16PM Richard Doherty says his company surveyed the few shoppers that were coming out of stores and found that understanding was pretty good for Blu-ray. But there is still some confusion in BD Live and Digital Copies.
4:14PM He believes the affect on the demand for Blu-ray of the economic conditions was overstated.
4:14PM Paul Erickson started out conservative because of current economic conditions, but after Black Friday he changed his position. He believes the overall demand for hardware and software will increase. He is now cautiously optimistic.
4:12PM The panel takes the stage, Paul Erickeson from DisplaySearch, Richard Doherty Envisioneering and Tom Adams Adams media research. Mike Snider of the USA Today is moderating.
4:11PM There is no formal proposal in the BDA in regards to 3D, but they think it is the best possible packaged media for 3D.
4:10PM Digital Copy has also been successful on Blu-ray with at least 53 BD titles including Digital Copies.
4:09PM The status of BD Live: there are at least 21 BD Live titles available now and 9 BD Live capable players on the market. If you include the PS3, 75% of all BD players are BD Live capable.
4:08PM In 2007 there were 5.67 million discs sold, with 30 million Blu-ray Discs sold (not shipped) since inception. This is a 4x increase since 2007.
4:07PM In software, there are nearly 1,100 Blu-ray titles available now. The Dark Knight was the first title to surpass the 1 million mark.
4:06PM There's a slide that shows the penetration of US homes at 3rd year, and Blu-ray is much higher than even HDTV or DVD at almost 8% of all households.
4:05PM According to the CEA, 5.4 million DVD players had shipped in three years in its launch.
4:04PM 10.7 Million Blu-ray capable players sales have shipped since inception in June of 2006, which does include the PS3.
4:03PM Andy Parsons come to the podium and starts off by sharing the agenda which will start with looking back at 2008.
{cricket) sound
Wow what a boring press conference
Managed copy isn't dead? That's certainly news. I thought it was late like a stillborn baby is late, honestly.
Managed copy wouldn't be any good unless the disc shipped with versions of the movie for different players or could transcode them on the fly *and* had the appropriate USB functionality to actually transfer said copies to the devices, *and* had the means to manage devices which presumably would have to be registered to a user in some manner.
What would help the situation enormously is if portable devices adopted a single profile & level of AVC/AAC for audio/video and a single DRM for management. That way it doesn't matter what device you have, just that it supports some common platform and away you go - buy content or use managed copy from anywhere to anything.
It's no wonder managed copy got stuck on the backburner.
yawn
i wont watch anything other then Bluray now ... but BD live is retarded .. its worthless so far
IMO... just because so many titles offer the digital copy... that is zero indication that it's actually "successful." Successful would be if people are preferring to buy that disc over one without an included digital copy. I mean, I doubt most people even realize what it is or have any idea what they would do with it.
My Hitman disc came with a digital copy and I added it to my iTunes and iPod Touch for shits & giggles, but doubt I'll ever watch it. And honestly I'd rather pay $1 less for a disc that doesn't include it.
Just my thoughts on the matter...
me also, why pay more. i'd rather skip the additional disc. besides why support importing movies into itunes. Apple hasn't given any love to blu-ray compatibility other than that.
none of their computers can play a blu-ray movie. i'd rather have cheaper blu-ray movies, the point of higher end discs is to watch in high def, not low-fi on an ipod.
I agree. Skip managed copies, all the bloody extras and that crap and just get me the best quality movie for the best price !
No mention of lower disc replication costs, lower costs to consumers for media.
This was not fun to read and must have been really lame to sit through.
Why do they keep on pushing this BD-Live garbage down our throats. I don't think I'm the only one when I say that the majority of movie viewers have no interest on this garbage that adds absolutely no value to movie watching. Give me the movie at the best quality possible at a reasonable price. That's all we want. Stop this constant changing DRM and for the love of God, stop this BD-Live bull. We didn't ask for it, we don't want it. I don't care how much Disney and Universal want me to buy the movie t-shirt and posters by dragging me to their stores. I just wanted to watch the movie.
OK, take away the PS3. NOW how is Blu-ray doing?
Mmhmm, that's what I thought.
Let me guess.. jilted HD-DVD owner?
The servers failed on the BD Update for Iron Man alone and you think we're ready for digital distribution of HD audio/video?
I have a PS3 and have never used the bluray player yet, I have no intentions of it as I have other ways I prefer to watch movies (which are cheaper), but my sale counts towards their sales figures, hmmm, ok then......
smitho, that's anecdotal. I have a PS3 as well, and own over 40 BDs. When you DO get around to watching a movie in 1080p, you're likely to be awestruck, and wonder why you hadn't done it sooner.
Woooo, that's only units shipped as well. PS3 IS blu ray.
I agree. I believe the numbers are inflated because of the PS3. Take that out of the equation, and it's closer to the number of DVD players in it's life span at the same time. In fact, I don't really think it's fair at all since there have been so many further reports of less than half the people who own the PS3 actually use it as a BD player.
Fact of the matter is, most people don't care that much in such a incremental step above DVD. But don't bash me because I have four BD players total and about 300+ discs. I'm in it either way, I just don't understand why it's so important for all the BD people to keep telling us how awesome they are and how awesome the product is and how much better it's doing than DVD. The product, once shown to the consumer, should sell it self and honestly, other than a slightly improved picture and better sound (which most people don't get the benefit of because they don't have anything to replicate it) it's pretty much the same. Not the huge leap DVD was over VHS.
And my God, when the hell can I just put a BD in and have it loaded in under an amount of time that doesn't make me think to myself "I hate Java"?
Well if you would have bought the PS3 instead of stand alone Bluray players you wouldn't have to wait long for you discs to load. My PS3 load Bluray faster than most all of my old DVD players load DVD discs.
I have a PS3 thank you. And on some titles even the mighty PS3 doesn't load all that quickly especially when compared to DVD players. Sorry, but I would like to sit down and have little to no load times at all. My preference.
I have a Panasonic 30, a Sony 350, a Pioneer 05FD and the PS3.
Yes, I will NEVER use any of this BD-Live garbage. I just want the film! The only reason I got a profile 2 player is that it happened to have OTHER qualities that I wanted.
ummmmm why not just have stayed with the non profile 2.0 model then??? I mean seriously........ damn the features........
Aggie, if you actualy read the two sentences there where in my post I would have believed the "why" to be rather clear.
Why they aint shwoing GLOBAL numbers.........BD players AND Recorders are doing well in Japan.......
hell it was an article on here a while back that said BD Recorders were outsellfing DD recorders........