Netflix, Blu-ray lead home entertainment back to growth
Phil Lelyveld
Entertainment Technology Center
[PaidContent]
… Driven by significant revenue growth from subscription streaming as well as Blu-ray disc sales and rentals, U.S. home entertainment spending rose 2.5 percent to around $4.45 billion in the first quarter, according to theDigital Entertainment Group (DEG), a research operation funded by Hollywood’s major studios.
It was the second out of the last three quarters that DEG talled growth for the sector — a third-quarter uptick of around 5 percent in 2011 was the industry’s first black ink in three years. …
As Netflix builds its streaming business at the expense of online disc rental, the overall home entertainment rental business has taken a hit — it was down nearly 18 percent in the first quarter.
That number would have been much worse if not for the offset provided by the red-hot kiosk rental business led by Redbox, which was up 30 percent during the three-month period. Last week, Coinstar reported 39 percent first-quarter revenue growth of $502.9 million for its Redbox division. …
Meanwhile, with the DEG also providing a marketing role for the home entertainment industry’s digital cloud endeavor, UltraViolet, the group reported that the initiative now has 2 million subscribers, doubling its tally from February.
