Sony gets big win in HD race

Warner Brothers, part of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), has decided that its HD material will only be released on the Sony (NYSE: SNE) supported Blu-ray format. That is bad news for Toshiba, which has championed the rival HD-DVD technology. According to Reuters "Warner Bros., Hollywood's biggest seller of DVDs, represents about 18 to 20 percent of sales in the United States and was one of the few studios that backed both formats."

While the news is good for Sony, it is hard to say whether it will speed high definition DVD adoption. The fact that there are two formats has confused consumers. This has likely kept them out of the market and forced them to rely on HD content delivered over cable and satellite. As a matter of fact, it may be a key to improved satellite TV subscription numbers.

The presence of two formats has likely also helped the new fiber-to-the-home products from telephone companies like Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ). They have enough bandwidth to support a number of HDTV channels.

Sony may have gotten some good news, but consumers may have already turned elsewhere for high definition content.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.