The British Video Association (BVA) is coordinating a promotional Blu-ray bundle offer ahead of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa being televised in HD in the UK for the first time. The bundle includes a Blu-ray player from Samsung and six BD movies. The promotion will be available to stores nationwide week commencing 17 May 2010 and aims to help retailers capitalize on the expected increase in HDTV sales in the run up to the World Cup.
Blu-ray titles included in the bundle are:
Mamma Mia! and
Brüno from Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd;
Up and
Toy Story from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment UK; and
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and
300 from Warner Home Video.
Samsung will be including their BD-C5300 Blu-ray player which features Wi-Fi Ready (optional USB adaptor required) internet connection allowing consumers to stream multimedia content from the internet as well as the optional extras via BD-Live. The six movies will also be available with the BD-C8200 and BD-C8500 Blu-ray players with Hard Disk Drives that also include free-to-air HD TV compatible digital tuners.
The Blu-ray bundle will enable consumers to kick start their Blu-ray collection at a fraction of the normal cost. This partnership between the studios and Samsung has been brokered by the BVA as part of its continued campaign to promote the Blu-ray format.
Simon Heller, from the British Video Association, said: "Sales of HDTVs are set to increase as football fans want to watch the World Cup in full high definition glory. Once they have an HDTV many will want to invest in bolt on technologies so that they can enjoy their movies in high definition too. We're launching this great value Blu-ray bundle to help retailers capitalise on HDTV sales by providing them with a great value offer for their customers.
"The increased consumer interest in high definition in the run up to the World Cup is the perfect opportunity for retailers to promote Blu-ray to help ensure consumers get the ultimate high definition experience that their HDTV was designed for."
Simon Storey, AV Product Manager, Samsung UK & Ireland, said: "We're delighted to be part of this offering which gives consumers the chance to begin their Blu-ray collections in earnest. Through the combination of great technology and great content, customers and can benefit from the ultimate movie experience with outstanding clarity and realism."