Audio Video News

Last week, Warner Home Video announced North American shipments to dealers of 1.5 million DVDs of The Matrix, generating $23.4 million in revenues and establishing yet another benchmark in DVD's market acceptance. Setting another industry record, The Matrix, released on DVD September 21, generated sales to consumers of approximately 780,000, or 52% of the shipment totals mentioned above, making it the most successful DVD in first-week sales. According to VideoScan, first-week consumer sales of The Matrix on DVD were three times greater than the next-highest-selling title to date.

Warren Lieberfarb, president of Warner Home Video, states that "DVD has not only revolutionized home entertainment, it's changed the threshold for success in the market. The Matrix is the perfect example of DVD's market potential."

To put last week's announcement in perspective, it took just two years from DVD's national launch in August 1997 for the format to ship one million units of a single title, compared to four years for CD (George Michael's Faith) and 11 years for VHS (Top Gun). According to the DVD Video Group, since their launch in 1997, DVD players have outsold VCRs by 13 to one, and CD players by four to one. More than 60 million discs have been shipped, and nearly 2.6 million DVD players are currently in US homes, with more than 4000 DVD titles now available.