Movie Rentals, Sales Stay Hot While Economy Cools

Yesterday, researchers claimed that the poor state of the U.S. economy was the reason consumers are buying more small HDTV sets and fewer mid-size ones.  Of course, it is possible that they're simply buying second HDTVs for the office or bedroom.

Today, data shows that the U.S. economy isn't deeply curbing consumer spending on home video. This unstable economy isn't proving to be a very reliable scapegoat.

Consumer spending on movie rentals and purchases in the first quarter of 2008 was just about equal to spending in the same quarter last year, according to movie studios. That's because Blu-ray disc purchases are helping to pick up the slack.

According to Video Business, in early 2008, sales of high definition discs grew between 400% to 500% - that's about $150 million. This large number makes up for the waning sales of regular DVDs.

Consumers bought and rented enough movies that sales dipped by only .3% to $5.6 billion. Movie theaters' sales decreased by 8%. -Rachel Rosmarin

Video Business

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