May 7 – Despite the fact that the format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD has been over for some time, some interesting information has come to light about Paramount’s switch to HD DVD exclusivity back in the heated moments of the format war.

Variety is reporting that Paramount took a $29 million payout from Toshiba to drop Blu-ray.

While everyone knew that this type of posturing was going on, it is nice to have some proof. This information was brought to light in an earnings report from Viacom, owner of Paramount.

It will be interesting to see if part of Blu-ray’s overwhelming studio support was a consequence of similar payouts, but this information may never come to light.

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[Via Format War Central]