Spending on Disc Rentals Rose in Q2: Rentrak

Home entertainment consumers still love their DVD and Blu-ray discs — especially when it comes to rentals.

Consumer spending on disc rentals during the second quarter of 2011 topped $1.48 billion, a 5.9 percent increase from the same quarter in 2010, according to Rentrak. Discs-by-mail subscription services and rental kiosks fueled the growth — which is hardly surprising, given the number of brick-and-mortar rental outlets that have closed in the past 12 months.

David Paiko, Rentrak’s vice president of home video, noted that although overall brick-and-mortar rental activity declined during the second quarter, “many of the larger brick-and-mortar [chains’] average revenue per store increased versus last year — which indicates that the lesser performing stores are the ones being closed, and the remaining stronger performing stores are doing well.”

Paiko added that the home entertainment industry could see “a more energized brick-and-mortar rental segment for the second half of the year,” thanks to the staying power of remaining local stores and Blockbuster’s implementation of a new marketing strategy.

Rentrak did not break out the role of individual companies in the Q2 disc-rental increase. One wonders how big a part Netflix’s discs-by-mail service played during the second quarter; the market effect of Netflix positioning discs-by-mail as a stand-alone subscription option, distinct from streaming, remain to be seen.

The Rentrak data follows a first-half 2011 report by DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group that estimated consumers’ rental spending, including streaming subscriptions and video-on-demand services, is now outpacing purchases of discs and downloadable files.

Rentrak Adds Anderson Merchandisers for Disc Rentals

Through an agreement with Rentrak’s revenue-sharing program for video stores, Anderson Merchandisers will begin offering DVD and Blu-ray rental titles from film and video distributor Arc Entertainment. The  deal coincides with Anderson adding a dedicated sales and marketing team to its new third party licensing business.

“As Anderson Merchandisers expands into licensed content distribution, initially with Arc Entertainment, working with Rentrak to reach key retailers in the rental market was a top priority,” says Mathew Smith, Anderson’s SVP of video purchasing, who added that the program will enable the company to stock more rental DVDs and Blu-ray discs in multiple retail locations.

Last week, Rentrak announced lower-than-expected earnings for its fourth fiscal quarter (ended March 31), with weak rental titles pulling the company’s home entertainment business down 14% year-over-year (via The Wall Street Journal).

More on the revenue-sharing agreement at Home Media Magazine.

Movies-on-Demand Business Approached $1 Billion in 2010: Study

An average of 38 million set-top boxes per month accessed video-on-demand content in 2010, an 11% increase over 2009, according to research firm Rentrak. Yet 74% of all VOD transactions were for free programming.

Still, VOD represents a growing revenue stream for content owners: the movies-on-demand business, Rentrak says, rose 9.1% to nearly $1 billion in revenue last year.

Among free on-demand categories, music, children’s, and television programming remain the most popular, with TV entertainment increasing the most during 2010 (31%).

Fewer than half of all VOD-enabled set-top boxes (44%) access on-demand services in an average month, according to Rentrak. VOD users, in contrast, had an average of 17.1 transactions per month in 2010.

The proportions of free content, paid transactions, and subscription services in 2010 is similar to the contours of the VOD market in 2009, as is the percentage of VOD-enabled households that use VOD services.

Details on Rentrak’s 2010 “State of VOD” trend report are here.

‘Alice’ Tops DVD Sales In First Week

Sales of Walt Disney Studios’ “Alice In Wonderland” bested other new releases such as Universal’s “The Wolfman” and Fox’s “Burn Notice: Season Three” for the week ended June 6, according to Rentrak. “Alice” sold four times as many discs as “The Wolfman,” according to fellow sales tracker Nielsen VideoScan (via Home Media Magazine). The Nielsen service adds that Blu-ray comprised 37% of Disney’s total first-week “Alice” sales.

Neither Rentrak nor VideoScan have released specific sales figures for the title. Analysts have been trying to measure the impact on sales from the movie’s availability via Redbox kiosks and Netflix’s disc rental; Disney claims there is no cannibalization. Rentrak (via PR Newswire)

Rentrak: Free Content, Subscription Services Dominate VOD

Rentrak: DVD, Blu-ray Rentals Up 4% In ’09

U.S. consumer spending on DVD and Blu-ray rentals rose 4.1% to $6.5 billion in 2009, according to Rentrak’s Home Video Essentials, which collects point-of-sale data. During the year, kiosk revenue grew 94%, with the Redbox-dominated channel approaching $1 billion in revenue. Kiosk rentals were more than enough to offset a 3.2% decline in rentals from brick-and-mortar outlets such as Blockbuster and online sectors. By Variety

DVD Industry Down, But Not Downbeat

Although DVD sales have fallen steeply, rentals — spurred by a robust Netflix and Redbox kiosks — have risen sharply, with an 8.2% uptick in the first nine months of 2009, according to Rentrak’s Home Video Essentials. Factor in dramatic gains in Blu-ray Disc sales and digital delivery, and consumer consumption of home entertainment might be at an all-time high. ”It’s been a roller coaster of a year, but consumer demand for content is as strong as we’ve seen it,” says Ron Sanders, president of Warner Home Video. By The Hollywood Reporter (via ABC News)

‘Gran Torino’ Tops 2009 VOD Transactions

The Clint Eastwood movie has generated nearly six million VOD transactions worldwide and $30 million in consumer spending, according to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and Rentrak. By Home Media Magazine

Disc Rentals Surge

Year-to-date spending on DVD and Blu-ray rentals is up 8.2% over 2008, to $5 billion, according to Rentrak. Fueling the growth are kiosks, the further establishment of the Blu-ray channel, and the economy. By Variety

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