Report: Rapidly declining Disc Sales Depress Home Video Business in 1H 2011

A spokesperson for DEG: Digital Entertainment Group states the trade organization did not deliberately select a Friday mid-day release a its dreary new report about consumer investing on home theatre within the first 1 / 2 of 2011. Butfrom a PR perspective it most likely does not hurt to bury news that shows VOD and electronic distribution still can't replace with the collapse in sales of Dvd disks.The headline number is the fact that consumer investing on all types of home video -- including DVD and Blu-ray disc sales and rental fees, VOD, an internet-based -- fell 5.1% versus the very first 1 / 2 of 2010 to $8.3B. This past year investing fell3.3% within the first 1 / 2 of 2010.DEG states the 2010 drop is not so bad becauselast year incorporated Avatar. (It appears the blockbuster was sufficiently good to includelastyear if this made sales look strong, but should be treated being an anomaly since celebrate evaluations look weak.) Still,there is no making your way around the steep decline for Dvd disks. Customers bought nearly $3.9B price of DVD and Blu-ray content, lower 18.3% versus the very first 1 / 2 of 2010. At this time around this past year disc sales were off 7.1% versus. 2009. Dvd disks would be the reason: Although DEG only reviews figures for "packed goods," it notes that Blu-ray sales are up a lot more than 10%. Meanwhile the rental business saw a couple of key events in 2Q as sales at bricks-and-mortar rental stores like Blockbuster -- which Dish Network lately bought from personal bankruptcy -- dropped 29% to $393M: The very first time customers spent more at subscription services for example Netflix ($808.1M, up 24.4%), kiosks including Redbox ($403.7M, up 36.7%) and VOD ($455.9M, up .3%). DEG handled to locate some causes of cheer. The trade group's release notes that total home theatre investing only fell 3.6% in 2Q, a noticable difference in the 6.4% decline in 1Q. Additionally, it states the industry "is very positive concerning the other half of the seasonInch when home video companies will offer you Paramount's Transformers: Dark From The Moon, Warner Bros' Harry Potter And Also The Deathly Hallows Part 2, and Disney's Pirates From The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.