NOTE: One-to-One (OTO) is a trade journal of the CD, DVD and other recorded and recordable media industry. Their masthead bills it as "the leading publication" for this industry.

...from: http://www.oto-online.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=...

DVDs still the heart of home video

Wednesday, 24 September 2008

Once again, industry is dealing with the 'Mark Twain Syndrome': "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." Two recent reports indicate that DVDs are alive and well worldwide - yes, even in the US. According to a recent report from the NPD Group, $8 out of every $10 spent on movies goes to buying and renting DVDs.

As for trends in Western Europe, FutureSource Consulting reports that the home video market is expected to generate total retail revenues of €11 billion by the end of 2008, with 97% of those revenues coming from packaged media (DVD and Blu-ray) and 3% from new digital video (online and mobile video).

Admittedly, the online video market in Western Europe is expected to gain traction and will be encouraged by technology advancements such as faster broadband speeds. Futuresource anticipates online video revenues to increase significantly by 2012 and, along with mobile video, this will represent 13% of total video revenues in Western Europe.

As the vast majority of revenues in the short to medium term will come from packaged media, there are a raft of initiatives in the market aimed at boosting sales. Certainly the continued release of blockbuster titles on Blu-ray will be key factor in holding up packaged media; however, in the near term the focus continues to be on DVD."

Across Europe an increasing amount of titles are being heavily re- promoted in the 3-4 month post-release period. There is a continued appetite for TV content on DVD. Although TV content is performing well in the UK, it has been Germany, Spain and Belgium that has witnessed impressive 25% growth rates in volume terms for TV content on DVD in an otherwise near-flat market.

"As in any mature market as well as focusing on sales boosting initiatives the studios are also equally focused on improving efficiencies and reducing costs throughout the home video supply chain," said Jim Bottoms of Futuresource. "As a result, all the major issues preoccupying the minds of those involved in the home video supply chain will be debated in the forthcoming European Supply Chain Academy Conference in Prague on 2-3 October, with Futuresource a co- producer of the event."

According to information presented recently by NPD, less than 1% of Americans' movie budget is currently spent downloading movies and TV shows from the web. Entertainment Trends in America, an NPD report, suggests that 41% of dollars budgeted for movies and video was spent on DVD movie purchases, 11% for purchases of TV programmes on DVD and 29% on DVD rentals.