Audio Video News

Discs Still Spinning

Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 21, 2011

Has streaming killed the shiny disc? The NPD Group says otherwise. A typical household spends 78 percent of its home video budget to purchase and rent DVD and Blu-ray. The 77 percent of consumers who report watching a movie on disc is unchanged from last year.

NPD's "Entertainment Trends in America" report puts streaming at 15 percent, with VOD and PPV comprising the remaining 8 percent. Spending on home video overall has dropped by 2 percent.

"Even though DVD sales and rentals are slowing, there is no evidence that consumers are abandoning physical discs for watching movies, even as the choices for viewing are expanding," says NPD analyst Russ Crupnick. This is despite "the well publicized struggles of Blockbuster" and other rental outlets. He expects strong growth in online delivery "driven by connected devices, improving selection, and the consumer's endless quest for convenience." However, "the primacy of DVD and Blu-ray in home video will continue for the foreseeable future."

See NPD Group press release.

COMMENTS
figuredmaple's picture
Submitted by figuredmaple on April 21, 2011 - 9:57am

Hard drives may fail and/or lose data, so I'll always prefer something I can hold in my hand instead.
I am also convinced that there is a noticeably higher quality in sound and picture from a disc.

X