Business in the backroom

Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks announced exclusive support (sort of) for HD DVD. Turns out they are rumored to be receiving about $150 million from some unknown HD DVD backer (Microsoft says it’s not them, so maybe it’s the HD DVD coalition spearheaded by Toshiba) for this 18 month deal. It’s bad because it prolongs the market indecision over which format will become standard—Blu Ray is commonly thought to be winning in the marketplace, but this will artificially distort that. In the long run this could be costly for the studios (consumers postpone buying until the standard is clear) and definitely is not good for consumers (at least for this consumer).