Home Entertainment Statistics

In an earlier post I posted about the decline in music sales. Prof. Topoleski commented and asked where people are spending their money in terms of entertainment if they are not purchasing CD's.

I think I've found the answer. DVD/Video sales and rentals are at an all time high. Despite the fact that this website is trying to support video/DVD piracy (http://www.mpaa.org/PiracyFactSheets/PiracyFactSheetUS.pdf) the chart in the middle of the first page shows a rise each and every single year in DVD and Video sales. From 16.4 billion in 1998 to 22.2 billion in 2002. It's a pretty steady climb, only expected to go up.

This website (http://retailindustry.about.com/cs/sales_categories/l/bl_vsda071502.htm) suggests that the "video industry experienced the best year ever". These facts and figures are from 2002, but the most recent that I could find. It also says that the DVD player is one of the fastest selling consumer electronic products ever.

Also, the VSDA (http://www.vsda.org/Resource.phx/public/press/august2003/august04-03.htx) does an annual report on the home entertainment industry each year and it's results from 2003 include the following: DVD console penetration rose 58%, video consumers DOUBLED their rental spending in one year, and statistics show the VHS format is still a competitor despite the fact that people think the format is being phased out.

What accounts for this booming home entertainment business? While I haven't found movie goer statistics (I'll look into it next) high def. TV's and flat screens are at the front of the new wave of television technology. With movie ticket prices on a steady increase (http://www.natoonline.org/statisticstickets.htm) people are finding different ways to fufill their movie desires. Netflix grew as Blockbuster's biggest competitor and offered consumers the easiest and cheapest way to rent movies - delivered right to your doorstep for a certain amount each month with no limit on the amount of movies you can rent. Netflix also offers a wider selection of movies than any local Blockbuster.

Blockbuster's latest scheme to keep customers in is also 1) the offer to pay a certain amount per month and get as many movies as you want and 2) the END of late fees! Blockbuster now offers consumers a chance to order their rentals online and receive them at their doorstep.

DVD sales however is one of the top industries. There are several reasons that could account for this - DVD's have come down in price. You can now go to Wal-Mart and pick up a DVD for $5! Even Best Buy and other electronic stores are selling DVD's as cheap as $10! That's LESS than the price of a CD.

I heard on the radio the other day that DVD collections are becoming quite popular and the new wave of the future in that they will eventually take the spot of the "coffee table book." Why have a book about birds when you could proudly display your Apprentice box set?

But really? Why pay say $6-7 (sometimes even $8) to go see a movie when you can just go to the store and buy one at the same price? Or why rent a movie for $5 when you can pay a little more and just own it? Both questions that many consumers have found the answers to these days, which accounts for the steady increase in DVD sales.