NPD: Consumer Entertainment Spending to Fall

PORT WASHINGTON, April 22:
New research from The NPD Group reveals that 37 percent of Americans anticipate
spending less on entertainment products and devices this year, versus just 18
percent who said they would spend more.

According to the report, Entertainment
Trends In America, about 46
percent of respondents thought they would spend about the same amount in 2008
as in the prior year. Teens were the only age group where spending tipped
positive; 30 percent believed they would spend more than last year, versus 25
percent who thought they would spend less.

“Entertainment has
historically been a reasonably recession-proof spending category,” said Russ
Crupnick, an entertainment industry analyst for NPD. “In the 2001 recession,
there were a spate of new gaming platforms, DVD was a relatively new format and
music CDs hadn’t yet suffered the full onslaught of digital downloading. It
appears from our recent consumer surveys that the current economic climate
might be more challenging for those who make and sell entertainment products.”

Consumers who do plan to
spend more on entertainment this year are primarily focused on new devices,
such as gaming consoles and Blu-ray HD players, rather than on DVDs, music or
other entertainment.

—By Mansha Daswani