U.S. Home Entertainment Spending Exceeds $7 Billion in Q3

U.S. consumers spent $7.3 billion to watch movies and TV shows for home and personal viewing in the third quarter of 2020, an almost 18 percent increase over the same period a year earlier, according to DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group.

During Q3, demand was particularly strong across internet-delivered rental platforms (iVOD), with spending rising 25 percent during the third quarter and 46 percent year-to-date. Consumer spending on theatrical titles through iVOD increased 23 percent during the quarter and 45 percent for the first three quarters of the year. Growth in the number of consumer transactions was even higher than the growth in spending, which was limited by lower average transaction prices for catalog titles compared to new releases.

Overall U.S. consumer spending across digital and physical home entertainment formats in the first nine months of 2020 was $22.2 billion, a 23 percent increase from the $18 billion spent in the same period a year earlier.

Spending on digital formats (including EST, VOD and subscription streaming) was particularly strong, rising 34 percent from the same period in 2019 to almost $20 billion, while subscription streaming climbed 39 percent. Digital purchase (EST) and rental (VOD) transactions are up 20 percent year to date.