DVD sales down but not out. Blu-Ray may not supercharge biz.
Hollywood Newsroom is now Buzz Newsroom! Visit and bookmark our new site. Buzz is bigger and better, including sports, world news, gadgets and the entertainment news that you're used to. Same staff, just more stuff! Why Fark, Drudge and Huffington when you can Buzz!?DVD isn’t the golden goose it once was — but overall sales are still holding fairly steady.
What scares film studios is that its flatlining won’t provide the cushion to rising costs and lower returns elsewhere.
A recent report by Adams Media Research and Screen Digest noted that total MPA film expenses grew 10% annually between 2004 to 2007 to nearly $13.2 billion (that includes private equity coin), but worldwide revenue shrank 4.6% to $34.9 billion over the same period.
Although worldwide rev is expected to grow by about 6% annually through 2011, “it is clear that studios cannot keep increasing spending at the rates they have over the past few years,” says ancillary market analyst Tom Adams.
Even the most bullish home entertainment toppers admit Blu-Ray won’t supercharge the biz the way standard DVD did.
While DVD popularized movie buying and shifted the moneymaking onus off theatrical, movies aren’t selling the way they used to on disc.
The congloms need only look to the adult DVD biz — once regarded as one of the only sure things during tough economic times — for a glimpse of the dangers that lie ahead on the digital front.
Adult DVD sales have slumped 10%-30% this year due to a massive shift by consumers to online content, and companies aren’t making up the lost coin on porn streamed over computers. Short clips are available for free or as little as 8¢ or 10¢ a minute online, and porn producers often get only a tiny cut.
- From Variety