MGM is owned by Sony Pictures so it would never go HD DVD

Membres depuis 2005 :
Apple, Inc.
Warner Bros.

Why would WB pay themselves 500M$, if they are part of the BDA?

I think the sales of Blu-Ray movies probably made the Blu-Ray/Warner deal far less expensive than a similar HD-DVD/Warner deal would have been, but I don't think studios are really supporting either format because they think their sales are (particuarly) strong.

who gets to keep the money?
Do investors get to see some of this action?

It may have won the battle between the two hd formats, but I still think it does not have a future.  As someone who has bought around a thousand dvds over the last decade, I can tell you in all certainty I will be damned if I ever buy a BluRay product.  Not only because of my disdain for Sony, but having purchased quite a few HDDVD's I have realized that  HD is just not worth it (and yes, I've got 1080p).  I am not replacing my movie library again just so I can see moles on peoples skin and such - dvds are most certainly good enough. Considering I actually took the plunge and have come up with this conclusion, I can imagine that it will be rejected by most casual dvd buyers.  I know quite a few people who did not give up on their vhs until the last couple of years.  To convince them that they have to start all over again for not that much advancement is folly.  I feel quite confident that by the time the dvd market has played out, the technology for downloading will be in place.  I think there are other factors at play here such as the world's march towards going green.  The millions upon millions of plastic wrapped paper and plastic cases that will not have to be manufactured and shipped, not to mention that our gas prices keep going up and when one can save a trip to the store with a few clicks over the internet, I absolutely think a push for downloading will be embraced.  Also with a likely recession in place or on the way, I think this will futher impede any embracement of higher priced HD product, not excluding the big tvs and perhaps the more expensive of the video game consoles.  Temporary - yes, but any delay of full embracement of the hd format is just another day closer toward downloading.

And you are correct to point out the cd vs. downloading market.  Yes cd's still sell millions, but the argument should be that it is actually dvds that will continue to sell millions during the period of  the physical distribution's decline.  The decline is already beginning.  Look at the video rental stores closing left and right, the vast bargin dvd bins in most stores.  I think the dvd industry is just grasping at straws in hopes of avoiding what the music industry is going through now.  I am sure 10-15 years ago, very few, myself included  would believe the state the music industry is in right now.  I thought when I first starting hearing about music downloading that it would be a fad and who would want to give up the liner notes and album art.  The movie industry doesn't even have that going for them - it is just a matter of time.

Watch, Nintendo will come out with a new type of Format called the WiiVD and pwn both the HD formats.

I would agree that the source of this rumour is unreliable.  But the non-quote is so pitiful that you could drive the proverbial Mack truck through the holes.

Warner Home Entertainment President Kevin Tsujihara says the studio took no pay-offs to exclusively back Blu-ray.

In a post-announcement conference call, Tsujihara flatly denied rumors that studio had accepted anywhere from 250M to $500M in exchange for dropping its HD DVD format support.

First of all, neither one is a quote.  The quoted part say very little about the no pay-off except the part "This is not a bidding war".

Secondly, if a pay-off is defined as cash changing hands, than probably there was no pay-off.  But if it was reduced royalities up to $500M, that could be best strategically for them.  So, the real question that needed to be answered is:  Was there any direct incentives to go with BR and drop HD-DVD?  When I hear that directly denied in a quote by Warner, then I'll believe that Warner changed their mind just to get on the winning side.  

But, I'll think that it was sort of stupid of them not to get anything for throwing their support to help ensure that it was the winning side!

This is from Rdjam/HDNOW/Deadmeats website so it is complete BS. Remeber this is the guy who claimed to have 100% guarented insider info that Warner and Disney were going HD-DVD exclusive at CES 08. Look how that turned out.

 Or killing Microsoft off. The next OS is years away. Vista just launched last year and isn't doing so hot, need I remind you. If MS were to launch a new OS this year, it'd be ignored and shunned by consumers.

I didn't care about DVD until most DVDs hit the $5-$10 range and the players were $50-$100.  I'll care about blu ray when it is able to meet these ranges.  I had about 15 DVDs before this (mainly gifts) and I now have a library of about 250.  I have watched 1080p at someone elses house and 1080 upconvert at my house.  I'm thrilled with upconverting.  HD looks great/ slightly better than upconvert.  But I won't pay my cable company $10 more a month for high def. 

I think this is the sticking point.  All the companies are claiming that the dual formats are holding back 1080p.  This just isn't the case.  DVD is holding back the HD formats.  It is 95% the quality with good upconverting and the DVDs are at least 50% cheaper and the players are closer to 800% cheaper.  If they want blu-ray to catch on they should kill DVD.  It worked for the TVs.  You can't find a non-hd tv anywhere anymore.