Warner Bros. Licenses Content for Distribution on DivX Certified(R) Consumer Electronics Devices

Agreement Enables Retailers to Offer Premium Content in DivX(R) Format for Playback on Variety of Devices

SAN DIEGO & LOS ANGELES —(Business Wire)— Oct 14, 2008 DivX, Inc. (NASDAQ:DIVX) and Warner Bros. Entertainment today announced an agreement that will enable online retailers to offer Warner Bros. titles in the high-quality DivX® standard definition format in October 2008 and high definition format in September 2009 for playback on DivX Certified® consumer electronics devices.

The wide-ranging agreement covers all titles available for digital distribution in the Warner Bros. catalogue including current and back-catalogue major motion pictures and television programs. All titles offered in the DivX format are compatible with a variety of DivX Certified devices from major consumer electronics brands, including DVD players, Blu-ray devices, gaming consoles and more. The agreement allows retailers who sign additional agreements with DivX and Warner Bros. to offer Warner titles in the DivX digital media format.

“Using the DivX secure format is in keeping with our overall digital distribution strategy,” said Jim Wuthrich, Senior Vice President, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. “The visual quality, security and widespread interoperability of the DivX format offers an excellent means for consumers to enjoy Warner Bros.’ content whenever and wherever they desire.”

“Warner Bros. offers an extremely compelling catalogue of premium, high-quality content enjoyed by consumers all over the world,” said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. “We’re very excited to work together to offer consumers premium content on any DivX device, from the PC to the living room and on the go.”

For more information about DivX, visit www.divx.com. To learn more about Warner Bros. Entertainment visit www.warnerbros.com.

No word on the complete list (it is lengthy though) or exact date, but some of the many flicks getting the cheapness are: The Shining, The Aviator, 300, and I Am Legend. Hopefully this'll push some of the other studios to lower prices as well, so Blu-ray flicks are more in line with DVD cost-wise. If there's one kind of war we love, it's a price war. [High Def Digest via Crunch]

Purchase New Movies on iTunes Same Day as DVD Release CUPERTINO, Calif., May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple(R) today announced that new movie releases from major film studios and premier independent studios are available for purchase on the iTunes(R) Store ( http://www.itunes.com ) on the same day as their DVD release. New releases and catalog titles will be available from 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First Look Studios. Movies purchased from iTunes can be viewed on an iPod(R) with video, iPhone(TM), Mac(R) or PC or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV(R), with new releases priced at $14.99 and most catalog titles at $9.99. "We're thrilled to bring iTunes Store customers new films for purchase day-and-date with the DVD release," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes. "We think movie fans will love being able to buy their favorites from major and independent studios." New releases available for purchase on the iTunes Store this week, concurrent with their DVD release, include "American Gangster" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." Other popular titles now available for purchase include "Juno," "Cloverfield," "I Am Legend," "There Will Be Blood," "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story." The iTunes Store is the world's most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over six million songs, 600 TV shows and over 1,500 films including 200 in stunning high definition video. With Apple's legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as new iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online. Pricing & Availability Movie purchases and rentals from the iTunes Store for Mac or Windows require iTunes 7.6.2, available as a free download immediately from http://www.itunes.com. iTunes movie purchases and rentals require a valid credit card with a billing address in the country of purchase. iTunes Movies are available in the US only and are $9.99 (US) for library title purchases and $14.99 (US) for new release purchases and $2.99 (US) for library title rentals and $3.99 (US) for new release rentals, and high definition rental versions are priced just one dollar more with library title rentals at $3.99 (US) and new release rentals at $4.99 (US). Short films are available to rent for 99 cents (US). Movies can be previewed, purchased and watched on iPod classic, iPod nano with video, iPod touch, iPhone and on a widescreen TV with Apple TV.

One thing that may be changing is our strategy...When both formats launched and hardware prices were high, we made a decision to support both formats and let the consumer decide.

But now that hardware pricing is affordable for both Blu-ray and HD DVD, it appears consumers no longer want to decide—so the notion of staying in two formats for the duration is something we are re-evaluating now that we are in the fourth quarter...[but] we are committed to the [Blu-ray] format.

Just when you thought a dual format player was inevitable, the scales could still drastically tip. [homemediamag via engadget]

That's right, starting in February of next year you'll be able to download-to-own (DTO) films and TV shows, or rent films on a video on-demand (VOD) basis from those studios in addition to the already agreed-upon Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Egami Media, Hart Sharp, Koch Entertainment and The Orchard.

Take a look at a bit of told-ya-so ranting and partial list of the films that will be available:

Finally, Hollywood studios get their heads out of the sand and realize that unless they make deals for movie downloads, the downloads will happen anyway. Of course, we're assuming that none of these movies will be available in HDTV formats yet, where the conventional wisdom says that those films are much too big for download. Sure, maybe 1080p films are too bulky, but it's amazing what compression can do these days, especially over fat pipes.

Who knows what price the studios will attempt to charge for this content, but it better be cheap or this idea will tank.

And hey, does this have anything to do with Apple's upcoming iTV video distribution hardware that was teased a few months ago? Could that be BitTorrent equipped, too? – Charlie White

Through these new partnerships, BitTorrent customers will be able to select from a variety of popular film titles from 20th Century Fox, Kadokawa, Lionsgate, Palm, Paramount and Starz Media such as "X-Men The Last Stand," "Ringu," "Saw III," "13 Tzameti," "Mission: Impossible III," and "Ghost in the Shell." TV programming will include hits like "Attack of the Show" from G4; "24" and "Prison Break" from 20th Century Fox; "City of Men" from Palm; "Laguna Beach" and "Celebrity Deathmatch" from MTV: Music Television; Emmy and Peabody-Award winning "South Park" and "Chappelle's Show" from COMEDY CENTRAL; "Hogan Knows Best" from VH1; "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "Avatar: The Last Airbender" from Nickelodeon; and "Skyland" from Nicktoons Network.

Press Release [BitTorrent Inc., via CrunchGear]

"If we can convert 5, 10, 15 percent of the peer-to-peer users that have been obtaining our product from illegitimate sources to becoming legitimate buyers of our product, that has the potential of a huge impact on our industry and our economics."

BitTorrent inks studio distribution deal [c|net]