M+E Daily

BD-Live, the technology that offers digitally-distributed extras to consumers of Blu-ray discs, is entering its prime.

Deluxe Digital Studios, which distributes content to Net-connected Blu-ray players around the world, says it has registered more than 100 million BD-Live “disc inserts” to date, and forecasts that the number could nearly double by the end of 2010. The company notes in a statement that a “majority” of Blu-ray players now shipping to market support BD-Live by featuring Internet connectivity.

Three out of every five of the consumer disc inserts to date have come from Blu-ray players in North America, Delxue says — a consequence of studios having released many BD-Live titles in the U.S. ahead of other territories. European users accounted for 35% of the BD-Live figure, with the rest of the world accounting for the remaining 5%.

The growth in usage coincides with an evolved approach to BD-Live’s capabilities as both a content delivery platform and a marketing tool.

Peter Staddon, Deluxe’s SVP Worldwide Sales and Marketing, told M&E Daily last month that studios have potential to develop BD-Live features well beyond the bonuses of yesterday’s DVDs – taking advantage of applications such as Deluxe’s “Pocket Blu,” which enables users to watch new video clips on mobile devices as well as set-top players.

“When BD-Live first launched, I think some made the mistake of treating it as DVD content,” Staddon said. “I’ve always made the analogy that BD-Live is like a network” — one that could span more than 20 million households by year’s end.

As an example of what BD-Live can do beyond DVD, Staddon — who prior to joining Deluxe headed marketing at Fox Home Entertainment — offered the hypothetical of a studio streaming its new movie announcements from the upcoming Comic-Con convention.

“Imagine,” Staddon said, if more than the “300 people in a convention room in San Diego” could see a studio’s Comic-Con trailer premiere. With the amount of money marketing departments already spend in sending talent to speak at the conference, Staddon said, it makes sense for a studio to follow through with its investment in the event: “send an EPK crew, put it on Pocket Blu and get it out there.”

Staddon added that with BD-Live, studio marketers have a built-in “link to the home entertainment experience,” with which they can realize “carryover from theatrical marketing” campaigns.