According to The Hollywood Reporter, Steve Nickerson, senior vice president of high definition media, is leaving Warner after a seven year stint.

An official press release has not yet been issued, and no replacement has been named at this time. Nickerson has held his current position since 2006, and was a vocal proponent of supporting both Blu Ray and HD DVD. It remains to be seen how this will affect Warner's position regarding the two formats. Rumors are flying that Warner is making an announcement in two weeks time at CEDIA about what their future plans are to support either both or just one of the HD optical formats. Adding fuel to that fire is Warner's online home video sales have suspended shipping until, you guessed it, September 5, the first day of CEDIA.

Is Warner getting ready to drop another bomb on the format war? Pretty much any announcement they make at CEDIA is going to stir the pot. If I had to guess, I would lean toward Warner making an exclusivity announcement, although the possibility remains that they are going to reaffirm their neutral stance and announce that all HD optical titles will be available in their proprietary Total HD disc format, which supports both Blu Ray and HD DVD on the same disc.