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Self-Promotion: Beyond the Hype, or Part of It?

Backers of both Blu-ray and HD DVD seem to be stepping up self-promotion this season. It's as if folks realize that to surge ahead they must make their move now--hence the advertising blitz, the free-movie promotions, and the unrelenting press releases heralding the latest news from one camp or the other. (Toshiba claims 70 percent of the set-top market, per the research group NPD; Blu-ray is leading in the number of software units sold, according to recent data from Home Media Research.)

Another type of initiative has been to create Web sites promoting the respective formats. Since last year, the HD DVD Promotion Group has maintained its site, The Look and Sound of Perfect. At times the site has not been thoroughly updated (for example, when Toshiba launched its new players earlier this year). But right now, it's an adequate resource if you're looking for more information on HD DVD and Toshiba's players in particular.

The Blu-ray Disc Association has had its own site for some time. Now, though, movie-industry backers of the Blu-ray format (including Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Twentieth Century Fox Entertainment), along with unnamed consumer electronics companies, have launched their own promotional site.

The site, Hollywood in Hi-Def, will provide reviews, interviews, news, and a regular blog by longtime entertainment-industry trade journalist Scott Hettrick.

"The site is something that's designed to appeal to anyone who is interested in packaged media in the home," explains Hettrick, who has written for Daily Variety, the Hollywood Reporter, and Video Business. "It's supported by a lot of the companies that are supporting Blu-ray, but it's not a strict promotional site, like any of the current promotional sites that are out there."

While the site will focus on Blu-ray Disc, mentions of HD DVD won't be verboten, "particularly in my blog," Hettrick says. "They brought me on to talk about issues in the industry. I won't ignore something or pretend something isn't out there. If there are unflattering issues about Blu-ray, I'll bring them up."

That said, references to HD DVD were scarce when the site launched last week. And the fact that the site was created by organizations with a vested interest in Blu-ray Disc was not clearly evident from the home page (you had to dig down deeper, to the 'About Us' option).

As for Hettrick's take on the format war? Not surprisingly, he believes Blu-ray will win. "This seems very similar to the DVD introduction in the mid-'90s. Go beyond the tech geeks and the fanboys to hit the average consumer, and I think it's all about price and the availability of content," he says.

"There's only one studio's product--Universal--that you can't get on Blu-ray. And as long as they're in the same range of price, within $100 or so, I think you have to give the edge to Blu-ray."

Impact: Mixed to none. I agree that the more forums are out there to discuss high-def, the more people will learn about the formats. A site like Hollywood in Hi-Def may be able to reach the mainstream public in a way that Ultimate A/V or AV Science Forum may not. (High-Def Digest, an independent site, is doing a good job of presenting news and reviews about both HD DVD and Blu-ray, in an accessible way.)

I'd have been even more impressed, however, if Hollywood in Hi-Def billed itself for what it was up front. Or if the site were editorially independent, supported by advertising from studios and hardware makers that don't dictate its content. The site is too new for me to evaluate its usefulness in educating consumers.

In the end, it is an industry-backed site, so I'm dubious about how impartial it can be. At launch the Blu-ray-only slant was glaringly clear--to the point of making the site look one-sided and promotional in nature, even without the clear billing as such. People who are just learning about Blu-ray and HD DVD need more sites that cut through the industry hype, not sites that help create it.