Hollywood Hopes Rise as Blu-Ray, Digital Sales Offset DVd Decline (new)

[Arkadin]

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/hollywo...9--sector.html
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...-redbox-317877

[Kosty]

Consumer Spending on Home Entertainment Rising for the First Time in Years

12:16 PM PDT 4/29/2012 by Thomas K. Arnold


Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The Digital Entertainment Group reports that subscription streaming rose an estimated 545.5% in the first quarter of 2012, while rentals at brick-and-mortar stores fell a devastating 39.4%.

Home video chiefs at the Hollywood studios finally have something to smile about.


For the first time in years, consumer spending on home entertainment actually rose in the first quarter of 2012, rising 2.5% to $4.45 billion largely due to the strength of streaming, according to numbers compiled by DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group.

The real good news for the studios, however, is that packaged media sales remained steady in the first quarter of 2012, with disc sales down less than 1% from the first quarter of 2011 – a sharp contrast to previous years, when first-quarter sales typically edged down in the double digits.


According to DEG, consumers spent $2.06 billion on Blu-ray Discs and DVDs in the first three months of 2012, down just slightly from the estimated $2.07 they spent in the comparable period last year. Continued declines in DVD purchases were offset by a 23% rise in Blu-ray Disc sales, the DEG says.

Add in electronic sellthrough, which posted a 17% gain in the first quarter, and total consumer spending on home entertainment purchases rose 0.5% to $2.22 billion.

More good news for the studios: disc sales of theatrical movies rose 2% in the quarter, sales of catalog titles on Blu-ray Disc were up 27%, and TV on Blu-ray sales soared 54%. More than 40.8 million U.S. homes now have at least one device capable of playing Blu-ray Discs.

The disc rental business didn’t fare as well. Rentals at brick-and-mortar stores fell 39.4% to $305 million, while subscription disc rental – mostly Netflix – was down an estimated 48% to $348 million, DEG claims. Kiosk rental – mostly Redbox – rose an estimated 30.1% to $523 million.

Subscription streaming, however, rose an estimated 545.5% to $548.6 million, largely due to Netflix’s successful conversion of disc renters to streamers. Video-on-demand posted a smaller gain of 6.8%, rising to $505.3 million.

Total rental spending – consisting of disc rentals as well as VOD and streaming – rose 4.4% to $2.23 billion from $2.13 billion in the first quarter of 2011.

UltraViolet, the studio-backed, cloud-based “digital locker” service, service grew to 2 million accounts in the quarter, DEG reported.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...-redbox-317877

[Kosty]

Home Video Spending Up 2.5% In Q1 To $4.45B; Subscription Streaming Soars




By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Sunday April 29, 2012 @ 2:41pm EDT


The data out today from DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group may suggest that the period of steep declines in home video spending — largely driven by the collapse of the DVD market — is over.

But it also may just reflect the fact that the quarter had more popular movies: Films available on home video in the quarter did 12.5% better at the box office than did comparable releases last year.

Whatever the reason, total sales of DVD and Blu-ray discs fell just 0.6% in Q1 to $2.06B; DEG says that Blu-ray now accounts for about a quarter of all disc sales. Throw in the $165M spent to buy digital files of movies and TV shows, and the sell-through market was up 0.5%.

Digital vendors really showed their muscle in rentals. Spending on subscription streaming services such as Netflix was up 545.4% to $548.6M while digital VOD from providers including Apple’s iTunes was up 6.8% to $505.3M.

Meanwhile, the rash of store closings at Blockbuster contributed to a 29.4% decline in rentals at bricks-and-mortar stores to $305M. And Netflix’s struggles with its DVD business helped to drive a 48.1% slide in subscription disc rentals to $348M. Bricks-and-mortar and subscription DVD rental services now individually do less business than pay TV’s VOD which was up 6.8% to $505.3M.

Another winner: kiosk services led by Redbox. Their rocketed 30.1% to $523M.

DEG says that consumers opened 2M UltraViolet accounts, enabling them to use mobile devices to stream the home videos they buy.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/04/cons...-in-q1-up-2-5/

[Kosty]

Hollywood hopes rise as Blu-ray, digital offset DVD decline

By Ronald Grover | Reuters – 8 hours ago



LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood may be seeing a turnaround in a seven-year decline of home video sales, thanks to double-digit sales growth of Blu-ray discs and online movies and TV shows, an industry trade group is expected to announce on Sunday night.

The Digital Entertainment Group, a trade group whose members include studios, consumer electronic companies and others, will report that U.S. consumers spent $4.5 billion on home entertainment in the first quarter this year, an increase of 2.5 percent from a year ago.

That's the second quarter of growth in the last three quarters for home entertainment spending, which includes purchases and rentals of DVDs, Blu-ray discs and online, as well as subscriptions to services like Netflix.

Overall spending declined on those items by 2.1 percent in 2011, to $18 billion, the seventh consecutive year of decline, according to data on the group's website.

"The business feels as if it has begun to stabilize," said Ron Sanders, president of Warner Home Video and DEG president. "Hopefully, we've hit bottom."

Sales of Blu-ray discs surged by 23 percent, the group said. That growth was spurred by strong Christmas sales of Blu-ray players, continued video sales of holiday releases like the hit "Kung Fu Panda 2" and the February release of the blockbuster "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1."


Blu-ray growth partially offset the continued decline in DVD sales. Packaged good sales, which include both formats, fell by 0.6 percent from a year earlier, to $2.1 billion.
Home sales of film and tv shows reversed that decline, and increased by 0.5 percent if sales through electronic outlets such as Apple's iTunes service are included. Consumers purchased $165 million of those so-called electronic sell-through products.

The industry's largest growth engine continues to be online subscriptions, such as those offered by Netflix, which grew five-fold in the quarter, to $548.6 million.

Most of that online subscription growth appears to come from Netflix customers who chose subscriptions for streaming over its traditional DVD by mail service when the company split the two options last year. Nationwide, DVD subscription sales fell by $322.8 million in the quarter.

Industry officials expressed optimism that growth will continue, based on continued sales of Blu-ray players and introduction of the studio-backed UltraViolet service by which consumers can buy movies that are shared among several cloud-connected devices. Nearly 2 million users have signed up since the serviced was introduced late last year, DEG said.

"We believe we're at an inflection point," said David Bishop, president of Worldwide Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. "We've created an installed base that will grow, and which we think will continue to give us momentum."

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/hollywo...9--sector.html

[Kosty]

DEG: First Quarter Spending Continued to Stabilize in Q1

29 Apr, 2012
By: Stephanie Prange



Home entertainment spending continued to stabilize in the first quarter of 2012 with overall consumer spending on rental and sellthrough of both packaged and digital media up 2.5% from the first quarter of 2011, to $4.45 billion, according to numbers released by DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group.

Once again, Blu-ray Disc was a major driver, with spending jumping 23% for the quarter. Catalog sales on Blu-ray Disc were up 27%, and TV on Blu-ray sales were up 54%.

Total household penetration of all Blu-ray compatible devices now stands at more than 40.8 million U.S. homes.

Total sellthrough spending — including packaged media and electronic sellthrough — was flat, up less than a percent at $2.22 billion. Packaged good sales were flat as well, through theatrical disc sales (DVD and Blu-ray combined) grew 2%.


Physical disc rental spending (minus streaming and VOD) fell 25% as Blockbuster and other physical rental stores shuttered in the quarter and Netflix lost disc customers. Subscription disc rentals fell nearly 50%. The lone physical rental winner, kiosk rentals, jumped 30% on the rise of Redbox.

On the digital side, the studio-backed UltraViolet cloud-based storage service grew to 2 million accounts in the quarter, DEG reported. Meanwhile, electronic sellthrough grew 17% to $165 million, and VOD nearly 7% to $505.3 million. Subscription streaming jumped a whopping 545% to $548.6 million. Total digital spending — including VOD, EST and subscription streaming — grew 74% to $1.2 billion.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/ind...ilize-q1-27114

[Kosty]

Variety's take

Homevid biz grows 2.5% in first quarter

Blu-ray, VOD, digital distribution pump sales

Variety
Posted: Sun., Apr. 29, 2012, 11:00am PT

By MARC GRASER

Hollywood's homevideo biz grew 2.5% during the first quarter, driven by stronger sales of Blu-ray discs, a growth in digital sales and VOD, although rentals remained strong through kiosks.

During the three-month period, homevid generated $4.5 billion in sales overall, according to the Digital Entertainment Group. Sales of entertainment surpassed rentals -- $2.2 billion vs. $1.7 billion.

The biggest gains during the three-month period came from subscription-based streaming services from companies like Netflix, which saw sales surge 545% to $549 million. Netflix saw revenue from its subscription-based disc-by-mail service fall 48% to $348 million.

Kiosks operated by Redbox and others earned $523 million, growing 30% for the rental category. VOD improved 7% to collect $505 million in rental fees.

The shuttering of more Blockbuster outlets caused in-store rentals to decline another 39% to $305 million.

However, Blu-ray was up 23%, with sales of older catalog titles growing 27%, and TV shows on Blu-ray improving 54% during the quarter. Blu-ray discs now represent a quarter of all disc sales.

An estimated 2.4 million Blu-ray players sold in the first quarter, with the tally including PlayStation 3 gaming consoles and home theaters in a box units. There are now 40.8 million Blu-ray devices in U.S. homes.

The sales figure are a good sign for the studios, which are looking for ways to encourage more consumers to purchase rather than rent films and TV shows. The DEG said the results reflect "the continued stabilization of the industry."

As studios put more promotional muscle behind digital locker service UltraViolet this year, the majors are hopeful that the electronic sell-through category will continue to grow; it was up 17% during the period to earn $165 million. More than 2 million UltraViolet accounts have now been created.

During the same frame, 6.5 million HDTVs were sold in the U.S., with more than 77.6 million U.S. households own an HDTV set.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...|News|FilmNews

[Kosty]

Home Entertainment Rebounds, Driven by Online Subscriptions

Published: April 29, 2012 @ 1:28 pm




By Todd Cunningham

Online subscriptions are driving a turnaround in Hollywood's slumping home entertainment businesses.

The Digital Entertainment Group, a trade coalition of studios and consumer electronic companies, reports that U.S. consumers spent $4.5 billion on home entertainment in the first quarter this year, an increase of 2.5 percent from the same frame a year ago.

Also read: The Big Netflix Comeback: Looking Less Likely

The figures, from the DEG website, include purchases and rentals of DVDs, Blu-ray discs and online, as well as subscriptions to services like Netflix.

Overall spending on those items declined by 2.1 percent in 2011, to $18 billion. That was the seventh consecutive year of decline, according to the DEG website.

Online subscriptions, such as Netflix, are a major factor in the rebound. Revenue grew five-fold in the quarter, to $548.6 million. Meanwhile, DVD subscription sales fell by $322.8 million in the quarter.

Other takeaways from the report:

>> Blu-ray disc sales surged by 23 percent. The February release of the blockbuster "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" was cited by the group, as were holiday sales of Blu-ray players.

>> DVD sales continued to decline. Packaged good sales, which include both Blu-ray and DVDs, fell by 0.6 percent from a year earlier, to $2.1 billion.

>> Sales of film and TV shows increased by 0.5 percent to $165 million if sales via services including Apple's iTunes service are included.

>> UltraViolet, the studios' cloud-based “digital locker” service, was up to 2 million accounts in the quarter.

http://www.thewrap.com/media/article...riptions-37786

[Kosty]

Bloomberg

Home-Video Spending Rose 2.5% in First Quarter, DEG Says

By Ye Xie - Apr 29, 2012 5:25 PM ET

Home-video spending by U.S. consumers rose 2.5 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, to $4.5 billion, driven by increased demand for Blu-ray discs, according to the Digital Entertainment Group.

Blu-ray disc sales jumped 23 percent in the first three months of 2012, the industry-backed DEG said in a statement. Spending on packaged videos, including DVDs and Blu-ray, declined 0.6 percent to $2.1 billion, indicating a drop in DVD sales.

Blu-ray accounted for a quarter of total spending on movie discs, compared with less than 15 percent two years ago, the Los Angeles-based group said. It didn’t break out specific dollar amounts within the packaged-goods category.

Kiosk rentals, such as those provided by Coinstar Inc. (CSTR)’s Redbox, jumped 30 percent in the quarter to $523 million.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...-deg-says.html

[Kosty]

News Analysis

Blu-ray Discs Leading Home Video Rebound

By Swanni

Washington, D.C. (April 29, 2012) -- For the first time in seven years, home video sales are rising thanks to double-digit sales growth for Blu-ray discs and online movies.


That's according to the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG), as reported by Reuters. (The DEG is a trade group that represents studios and CE companies.)

Reuters writes that the DEG is reporting that U.S. consumers spent $4.5 billion on home video in the first quarter this year, an increase of 2.5 percent compared to the 2011 first quarter. The increase marks the second quarter of growth in the last three quarters -- and there little doubt where the biggest improvement is coming from: Blu-ray.

Sales of Blu-ray discs jumped 23 percent in the first quarter, led by big holiday releases such as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part I and Kung Fu Panda 2.

While DVD sales continue to fall, the Blu-ray disc is breathing new life into the hard disc category. Overall disc sales fell just 0.6 percent in the first quarter, a strong improvement from previous quarters.

“The business feels as if it has begun to stabilize,” stated DEG President Ron Sanders who's also president of Warner Home Video.

Reuters writes that the DEG found that sales of all films and TV shows rose 0.5 percent in the first quarter when you also include online sales.

The DEG says that the majority of online subscription growth is coming from Netflix customers who switched from DVD-only service to streaming last year.

http://www.tvpredictions.com/seconddead042912.htm

[Kosty]

Blu-ray Movie Sales Continue to Rise as Audience Transitions from DVD

Digital distribution also sees steady growth according to Digital Entertainment Group

Article | 04.29.12 | By John Gaudiosi


The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) has released sales data for the first three months of 2012 and things are looking up for the home entertainment industry. The first quarter of 2012 saw the continued stabilization of the industry underscored by promising gains in Blu-ray Disc, with steady increases in electronic sell-through (EST) and video-on-demand (VOD) spending, and modest growth in sell-through. Hit movies like Immortals have translated to strong sales in home entertainment. (See Henry Cavill discuss the movie in the exclusive video below.)




Overall consumer spending was up 2.5 percent compared to the first quarter last year, driven by a healthy consumer appetite for Blu-ray. Blu-ray Disc saw continued double digit growth (up 23 percent) in sales over first quarter 2011. Indeed, Blu-ray Disc now accounts for one out of four of all of the physical sell-through dollars spent by consumers compared to less than 15 percent two years ago. The progress in Blu-ray Disc sales is even more significant when viewed as growth off an ever-increasing base.

Highlights for the first quarter include:

Blu-ray Disc and EST continued their steady gains with consumer spending on Blu-ray jumping 23 percent and EST up 17 percent compared to the same period last year.

Physical sell-through of theatrical product was up two percent for the quarter, while catalog sales on Blu-ray Disc were up 27 percent, and TV on Blu-ray sales were up 54 percent, underscoring that Blu-ray Disc is the standard for quality home entertainment.

With most major studios backing UltraViolet, and with the support of major retailers, consumers have embraced UltraViolet’s flexibility and value of ownership by opening nearly two million UltraViolet accounts to access and enjoy their movies and TV shows in the cloud.

The number of Blu-ray homes continues to climb, with 2.4 million players sold in the first quarter (including BD set-tops, PS3s and HTiBs). Total household penetration of all Blu-ray compatible devices now stands at more than 40.8 million U.S. homes.

Further, 6.5 million HDTVs were sold to U.S. consumers in the first quarter 2012. HDTV penetration to date is now at more than 77.6 million U.S. households.

http://www.gamerlive.tv/article/blu-...ransitions-dvd

[Kosty]

I don't see the original DEG 1Q 2012 report press release or table available online yet.

A lot of other new sites have the Reuters write up or nothing additional in commentary added than what was obviously in the DEG press release.

[towergrove]

Positive press for home video today. Seems to be well received as a positive by the media and a step in the right direction.

[Kosty]

Blu-ray and DVD Holding Their Own Against Internet Streaming

By Robert Silva, About.com GuideApril 30, 2012

If you believe all the hype, almost everyone streams their movies and TV shows from the internet. However, in reality, although internet streaming continues to increase in popularity (up an amazing 545% from the same period last year to to $548 million in revenue), the majority of consumers still spend most of their home entertainment dollars on both DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, and it looks like that will continue for awhile.

According to the latest figures provided by the DEG (Digital Entertainment Group), consumer spending on Blu-ray discs is up 23 percent Year-over-Year, which includes a 2 percent increase in new film titles, a 27 percent increase for catalog titles, and 54 percent increase for TV-on-Blu-ray titles. Total Blu-ray and DVD revenue for quarter one 2012 held up well at $2.05 billion, just slightly down from the 2011 quarter one total of $2.07 billion, due to a slight decrease in DVD sales revenue, which continues an overall downward trend.

The number of U.S. households that now have a Blu-ray compatible playback devices (includes Blu-ray Disc players, Blu-ray Home-Theater-in-a-Box systems, and Sony PS3 game consoles) now total 40.8 million.

In addition, physical DVD and Blu-ray Disc rentals continue to remain healthy, even as Netflix is de-emphasizing that part of its service and Blockbuster now not as much of a competitive factor. It turns out that Redbox has picked up more DVD rental market share, continuing to pass Netflix as the largest DVD rental service as its $53.7 million 2012 first quarter net revenue substantially beat 2011 first quarter numbers.

As a related side note, 77.6 million US households (out of approximately 115 million total) now have at least one HDTV.

The battle between streaming and physical media continues, stay tuned...

For additional details and perspective, read the reports from TV Predictions and The Hollywood Reporter. Also, share your own entertainment spending preferences by voting my new continuing poll:

http://hometheater.about.com/b/2012/...-streaming.htm

[Kosty]

TWICE

DEG: Blu-ray, Streaming Growth Seen In Q1

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 4/30/2012


Los Angeles - The digital home entertainment industry saw further stabilization in the first quarter of 2012 with signs of significant growth ahead for the Blu-ray Disc segment, according to findings from the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG).

The first-quarter results, as reported by the video home entertainment industry promotion group, were said to have been buoyed by steady increases in electronic sell-through (EST) and video-on-demand (VOD) spending, with modest growth seen in sell-through.

Overall consumer spending rose 2.5 percent compared with the first quarter last year, with a significant portion of revenue coming from Blu-ray sales.

Blu-ray Disc saw a 23 percent increase in sales over first quarter 2011, and now accounts for 25 percent of all consumer pre-recorded video sell-through revenue, up from less than 15 percent two years ago.

Highlights for the first quarter include:

Electronic sell-through revenue was up 17 percent compared with the same period last year.

Physical sell-through of theatrical product was up 2 percent for the quarter, while catalog sales on Blu-ray Disc were up 27 percent, and TV on Blu-ray sales were up 54 percent.

Nearly 2 million UltraViolet accounts have now been created to help consumers access and view purchased movie and TV show content from the cloud.

The number of Blu-ray homes increased with the addition of 2.4 million players in the first quarter (including BD set-tops, PlayStation3s and HTiBs). Total household penetration of all Blu-ray-compatible devices now stands at more than 40.8 million U.S. homes, the DEG said.

Another 6.5 million HDTVs were sold to U.S. consumers in the first quarter of 2012, raising the U.S. HDTV household penetration rate to more than 77.6 million U.S. households.

http://www.twice.com/article/483809-...ce=twitterfeed

[Kosty]

First Quarter Blu-ray Sales Up 23%, $101m reaches $541m

Posted April 30, 2012 06:35 PM by Nayan Ashra

According to the DEG Blu-ray sales reached $541m for the first quarter in the USA rising 23%, or $101m. Blu-ray standalone player sales were 2.4m for the quarter with the installed base now reaching just under 41m.

Total home video spending was up year on year for the first time in two years by 2.5% to reach $4.45bn. Much of this rise was down to the impressive 74% rise in digital streaming and sales, while the upturn in Blu-ray sales was wiped out by the DVD losses, meaning physical sales were flat year on year for the quarter.

Blu-ray now accounts for over a quarter of all physical discs revenue, though given that BDs have a higher average selling price than DVDs it is unlikely that DVD maintained the same market share for unit sales.

Rental markets saw a rebound thanks to Redbox whose revenue rose 30% year on year. Other rental was down but the strong rise at Redbox ensured that the market grew.

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=8628