Blu-ray Supporting Studios Respond to Payoff Question

Asked directly whether they'd accepted financial incentives in exchange for their Blu-ray support, four BDA studios denied any such thing, while one remained conspicuously mum.

According to the British web site Pocket-lint, studio execs visibly wriggled on stage as they were put the Yes/No only question at yesterday's BDA press conference at IFA 2007 in Berlin, Germany.

Ultimately, execs from Warner Bros, Fox, MGM and Sony all denied having accepted financial incentives from the BDA, while Disney's European Marketing VP responded with a "no comment."

The question came as rumors continue to swirl around Paramount's decision to drop Blu-ray support, with published reports stating that the studio received financial incentives amounting to roughly $150 million in exchange for its HD DVD exclusivity.

For its own part, Paramount has stopped short of denying that it received incentives to make the switch, but has consistently emphasized the HD DVD format's manufacturability, reliability and cost as the key factors in its decision.