Posted Tue Oct 13, 2009 at 07:00 AM PDT by Mike Attebery
Video rentals are a booming business as consumers look for inexpensive ways to satisfy their entertainment needs.
Compared to the numbers from last year, consumer spending on Blu-ray and DVD rentals has increased by nearly ten percent in the third quarter of 2009. For the full year to date, rentals are only up 8.5%, making third quarter numbers even more significant.
Brad Hackley, vice president of Rentrak, says that a strong portion of that surge is from Blu-ray discs. In fact, compared to DVD rental numbers from a similar time in the life cycle, Blu-ray rentals are ahead. “The widespread distribution of Blu-ray titles into the primary rental channel is supporting the rapid adoption of the format by consumers, greater than what we saw on DVD,” noted Hackley.
Year to date Blu-ray rentals have reached $313 million, surpassing last year’s numbers by over fifty percent. In the last quarter alone, more than $111 million has been spent on Blu-ray rentals from brick and mortar and online sources.
Kiosk rentals also saw a strong surge of over 120%. The widespread Redbox kiosks, now numbering over seventeen thousand, along with Blockbuster’s own kiosks, make up for 14% of all rentals. Lawsuits and pushed back release dates threaten to damage the competitiveness of Redbox in the fourth quarter, so revenue for the end of the year is expected to be a bit lower.
Source: Video Business
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.