DVD Revenues Slip, Digital Distribution Shows Gains

LOS ANGELES: Overall consumer spending on DVDs, Blu-ray discs and digital distribution fell by 4 percent in the first three quarters of this year to $12.6 billion, with gains in electronic sell-through and VOD partially offsetting declines in DVD revenues.

According to research from the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG)—a consortium of media and technology companies—sell-through of Blu-ray Discs gained 80 percent to $1 billion. But packaged media sell-through, which includes DVD and Blu-ray Disc, declined 8 percent year-to-date.

On the digital distribution front, electronic sell-through (EST) and VOD made up 13.5 percent of the overall consumer spend in home entertainment year-to-date. EST gained 37 percent to $432 million and VOD was up 20 percent to $1.2 billion for a combined growth of 23 percent to $1.7 billion.

“While we continue to encounter tough market conditions, there are a number of positive trends emerging, particularly in some of the industry’s key growth areas,” said Ron Sanders, president of DEG and president of Warner Home Video. “Blu-ray continues to show strong growth in every category, new release packaged media sell-through is up, and digital distribution is gaining significant momentum as we move into the fourth quarter.”