Fox Predicts PS3-Led Blu-Ray Win in Format Wars

The head of Fox Filmed Entertainment, the division of News Corp. responsible for its motion picture output, has predicted that Sony's Blu-Ray format will be the victor in the coming battle against the DVD Forum's HD-DVD format. The two competing media are currently gathering supporters in an effort to become the next media standard, as CD and DVD were before. "In terms of the number of companies involved, the PS3 momentum and the level of content that is committed to Blu-ray, it does seem to have a pretty strong lead," said Fox Filmed Entertainment co-chairman James Gianopulos at the Reuters Media and Advertising Summit in New York. "We believe that Blu-ray not only has the superior technology and backing in terms of strength to market but also the superior content protection." Gianopulos is not the first executive to cite the PlayStation 3 support as a decisive factor in supporting one side over the other: similar comments have come from Paramount, and from Universal and Lions Gate. Neither the Xbox 360 nor Nintendo's upcoming Revolution take sides in the conflict, with both using standard DVD media for their games.