Netflix digs HD DVD grave deeper

U.S. online DVD rental service Netflix on Monday drove another nail into the coffin of HD DVD by opting to go with the rival Blu-ray format only.

Netflix, which allows customers to rent DVDs on the internet and have them delivered to their door by post for a monthly subscription fee, said it would only buy Blu-ray discs from now on and phase out HD DVD stock by the end of the year.

The Sony Corp.-backed Blu-ray and Toshiba Corp.-supported HD DVD rivalhigh-definition formats had been lockedina battle for consumers since they launched in2006, recalling the VHS-Betamax fight overvideocassette formatsin the early 1980s.

Netflixsaid Hollywood has sent a clear message that it favours Blu-ray, given that five of the seven major studios have picked the Sony format.

"From the Netflix perspective, focusing on one format will enable us to create the best experience for subscribers," the company said in a statement.

Netflixreported 8.8 million subscribersas of the endof 2006 and projects more than 20 million within the next four to six years. The company doesnot operate in Canada, which is instead served by Ottawa-based Zip.ca.Zip currently offers DVDs in both high-definition formats.

Zip.ca to continue offering both formats

Rick Anderson, president of Zip.ca, last month told CBCNews.ca the site was sticking with HD DVD as consumers had not yet chosen a preferred formatalthough the film studios obviously had. The two similar but incompatible formats were neck and neck in total rentals on Zip.ca, he said in January.

Anderson could not be reached for comment on Monday.

HD DVD was dealt a decisive blow in June last year when Blockbuster, the largest movie rental chain in North America, announced it was going Blu-ray only. The battle was all but settled just before this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, when Warner Bros. announced it was dropping its support of HD DVD. Warner Bros. joined Disney, Sony, 20th Century Fox and MGM in backing Blu-ray, leaving only Paramount and Universal still supporting HD DVD.

Toshiba has lowered prices on its HD DVD players since Warner's announcement. Microsoft Corp. also lowered the price on the HD DVD add-on player for its Xbox 360 video game console.