In the latest Home Media Magazine we see that Buena Vista Home Entertainment is getting serious about spreading the Blu-ray word to retailers.

In a two page spread, BVHE claims that in 2008 Blu-ray will be a billion dollar business and encourages retailers to grab their fair share.

The advertisement notes that, no doubt due to the higher retail pricing of Blu-ray Disc, the average Blu-ray purchase is 170% larger than for DVD - $162 compared to $60.

Along with these interesting statistics, BVHE offers training kits and retail associate training discs, demo discs and brochures, while showing a picture of a Blu-ray kiosk. The also point the way to www.RetailBlu.com. The page is rounded out with a showcase of current and future high impact Buena Vista Blu-ray titles.

For those interested in shopping around a little more, we have added a new important feature to the database.

Now as well as the retail price for titles, the site lists the Amazon price and the Deep Discount price for the titles. Clicking on the price will take you to the page on the respective sites.

Also interesting to note that Deep Discount has a different range of Paramount titles still listed, for those who need to have them as soon as possible!

Feel free to comment on these and other features. Currently it is not possible to sort based on the Amazon or Deep Discount prices in the main database, but if people want that capability it should not be too difficult to add.

UK online retailers have seen large gains for Blu-ray Player sales since Toshiba bowed out of the HD Disc arena.

Play.com’s Stuart Rowe said that on VHD (Victory in Hi-Def) Day this Tuesday, the company sold more Blu-ray players than in the previous week combined. “There was a seven fold increase in Blu-ray player sales, on that day alone.” said the Chief Operating Officer. “People have been waiting a long time to move into the Hi-Def era and now they have the confidence that this is going to be the format.”

Via Blu-ray.com

Video Business is reporting that DVDEmpire.com will also be putting its support behind the Blu-ray format.

DVD Empire will still be accommodating to consumers who have found themselves on the ‘losing end’ of the stick.

“DVDEmpire.com will now be putting its support behind the Blu-ray format,” said Shannon Nutt, the site’s editorial director. “However, we want those who own HD DVD players to know that for the time being, we will continue to fill orders and provide HD DVD titles for those who wish to buy them.”

In the coming weeks, DVD Empire is planning to put its entire HD DVD inventory on sale. It’s not clear the scale of the discounts that will be offered. DVD Empire has likewise not canceled any outstanding orders for still expected HD DVD titles, which include Paramount Home Entertainment’s Bee Movie on March 11.

Ok, this could easily be in the realm of fantasy, forgery or computer error, but strange things are afoot at Circuit City.A CC employee has reported in a forum thread that all of the old Paramount Blu-ray releases are back in the CC computer system.

Not only that but Blades of Glory and Transformers are also listed. Transformers is listed as a 2 Disc Edition and has a $34.99 price tag.

The UPC code for the release is 097361312422. The UPC for Transformers on HD DVD is 097361312804. As you can see there are distinct similarities between the two.

The thread also shows pictures of the CC computer screen showing the entries for Blades and Transformers, along with other contemporary releases such as The Brave One.

As noted above, this could easily be an error or a fake… or it could be that Paramount Blu-ray titles are not too far away! Regardless it is a fun read.

According to Twice, a new J.D. Power and Associates mystery shopper study has found that retail salespeople across the country are strongly recommending Blu-ray Disc players over HD DVD to their customers.

The study report states that less than 1-in-10 retail salespeople recommended HD DVD to survey takers posing as shoppers for the syndicated, independent field study.

The HD disc study was part of the Television Retail Insights report, which is jointly produced by J.D. Power and Associates and Market Force Information.

The current study covered electronics salespeople in over 200 storefronts in January. Mystery shoppers posed as people who had just purchased an HDTV and were looking for a nameless dedicated HD disc player.

The survey found 25 percent of all salespeople chose not to recommend one platform over the other. But of those who did, 89 percent recommended Blu-ray, and most of them “very strongly recommended Blu-ray, to the point that a typical customer would have had to think long and hard before buying HD DVD in the face of what salespeople are telling them about the two platforms.

(more…)

We read over at Check Out Blog today that Wal-mart is moving to phase out HD DVD and to carry Blu-ray Discs and DVDs only.The move will be reportedly in place by June 2008.

According to the recent NPD report, Wal-mart is the third largest seller of HD Media in the USA.

Check Out Blog claims to be “Dedicated to bringing you the latest in gadgets, green, gaming, and more, Check Out is written by a group of expert Wal-Mart Associates.” - so while informal, this would seem to be a fairly official word from Wal-mart.

Via EngadgetHD

Perhaps adding some relevance to this story below, Video Business is reporting that Best Buy is the top High Def retailer.The article states that Best Buy is selling more Blu-ray and HD DVD titles than even Wal-mart, the king of DVD sales, according to NPD.

Wal-Mart carries a third-place share of the high-definition software market, followed by Circuit City and Target. Amazon.com sits in second.

Best Buy is far in front. Amazon.com and the rest are mostly clustered together for the second through fifth spots.

We read over at StreetInsider.com that Best Buy is taking a step forward in addressing consumer confusion about high-definition formats. Beginning in early March, the leading consumer electronics retailer will prominently showcase Blu-ray hardware and software products in its Best Buy retail and online channels in the United States.

“Consumers have told us that they want us to help lead the way. We’ve listened to our customers, and we are responding. Best Buy will recommend Blu-ray as the preferred format,” said Brian Dunn, Best Buy’s president and chief operating officer.

Dunn continued, “Best Buy has always believed that the customer will benefit from a widely-accepted single format that would offer advantages such as product compatibility and expanded content choices. Because we believe that Blu-ray is fast emerging as that single format, we have decided to focus on Blu-ray products.”

The company noted that it will continue to carry an assortment of HD DVD products for customers who desire to purchase these products.