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Will Digital Hurt BD's Roll?

January 9, 2008 Blu-ray snagging Warner Bros. to its side continued to attract plenty of ink during the Consumer Electronics Show. But something else seemed to pop out of several executive product presentations: the intent to beef up Internet-delivered content, including high-definition movies, for TV viewing. During his CES keynote earlier this week, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said service subscribers will get to choose from 300 VOD high-def movies, TV shows and music videos by the end of 2008. The company is hoping to stay competitive with satellite carriers which have been ramping up their own high-def channel offerings in 2007.
Panasonic, Sharp and Samsung are all promising new TV models that feature an Ethernet port for enhanced content choices. Panasonic executives were jazzed about launching in 2008 what they touted as the very first Web-enabled plasma model. Sharp's TVs give you instant access to weather in real-time, and NBC Universal Web feeds. High-end Samsung models will also offer weather, news, etc.
Now, news feeds don't scream must-see viewing. And no one can stock a VOD film on their shelves for repeated high-def enjoyment. But there's a heckuva lot more entertainment choices, some of which will be in high-def, headed to consumers in the next several months. If nothing else, the rising media selection could prove some digital competition to Blu-ray.

Posted by Susanne Ault on January 9, 2008 | Comments (0)