Consumers prefer discs

[Batman1980]

NPD Study Shows Consumers Prefer Discs
Posted May 12, 2009 10:51 AM by Juan Calonge
According to a study by the NPD Group, 88% of consumer home entertainment dollars go toward DVD and Blu-ray Disc purchases and rentals. Each US consumer spent an average of $25 per month on all types of home entertainment. Most of that money, 63%, was spent on DVD purchases; 7% was spent on BD purchases; and 18% went to DVD and BD rentals.

Just 9% was spent on Video on-demand (VOD), and 3% went to digital downloads and online streaming.

Most consumers don't use digital options to watch a full-length movie, although the numbers have grown over the last year. Digital movie downloaders also tend to buy and rent Blu-ray Discs more than the average consumer: 25% of them bought or rented a Blu-ray Disc in the last three months, versus 5% overall.

"While many in the home video industry worry that digital consumers might walk away from packaged media, that hasn't happened yet," said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD. "Discs are still and by far the dominant way Americans enjoy home video."

The NPD study "Entertainment Trends in America" was conducted online and is based on more than 11,000 completed responses from U.S. consumers.

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=2692
Sounds good to me, ladies and germs.

[Blu Titan]

It will remain that way for a long time. Personally, I am a movie collector and physical/tangible ownership is very important to me.

[P@t_Mtl]

I prefer owing the disc as well. I am not a fan of digital downloading at all.

[tron3]

See my article link in my signature. "Creatures of Hard Media".

[jw]

Wolverine, when you post someones work that is NOT your own, please quote it and provide a link
NPD Study Shows Consumers Prefer Discs

Posted May 12, 2009 10:51 AM by Juan Calonge
According to a study by the NPD Group, 88% of consumer home entertainment dollars go toward DVD and Blu-ray Disc purchases and rentals. Each US consumer spent an average of $25 per month on all types of home entertainment. Most of that money, 63%, was spent on DVD purchases; 7% was spent on BD purchases; and 18% went to DVD and BD rentals.

Just 9% was spent on Video on-demand (VOD), and 3% went to digital downloads and online streaming.

Most consumers don't use digital options to watch a full-length movie, although the numbers have grown over the last year. Digital movie downloaders also tend to buy and rent Blu-ray Discs more than the average consumer: 25% of them bought or rented a Blu-ray Disc in the last three months, versus 5% overall.

"While many in the home video industry worry that digital consumers might walk away from packaged media, that hasn't happened yet," said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD. "Discs are still and by far the dominant way Americans enjoy home video."

The NPD study "Entertainment Trends in America" was conducted online and is based on more than 11,000 completed responses from U.S. consumers.LINK

its not so bad as you are using work from here but as a habit you should always do to avoid controversy

[Yeha-Noha]

D/L might be an alternative for those who rent. For me, nothing beats owning BDs on discs just like the books in my library. They are like old friends.

[Chordata]

I remember studying this "phenomena" in college. I think Playstation or Nintendo was considering putting games on a SD card as opposed to a disc, but all the studies showed consumer prefer discs to cards, tapes, etc.

That was right when Napster was taking off, though. I am sure before long, the overwhelming majority of people will be fine with digital copies of things.

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

Consumers prefer discs?!?! No sh*t.

[repete66211]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=2692
Sounds good to me, ladies and germs.

I too prefer to own discs....of movies I really like. But I only buy a disc after I've seen it, usually via some other media format (theater, VOD, cable). The only time I VOD movies is if it's a movie I'm almost certain I won't want to own, like Zack and Miri or Tropic Thunder. (And then only because I'm not in the mood to watch Le Plaisir or some other Netflix classic/foreign movie sitting on my kitchen counter.)

As when people moan about letterbox/pillarbox, I just can't compute it when people ask how to hook up 5.1 on their laptop or when they talk about watching movies online...or on their iPhone. Those action scenes are really gripping on that 3.6" screen.

[kevinbr100]

it must be we buy/listen to music for different reasons than we buy/watch movies. at least for me. i have no issues with having digital copies of music. but having a physical representation of a film seems much more satisfying. i know it might have something to do with the collecting bug. as i was writing this i also thought, that having a physical copy of it allows us to look at and touch the case, helping us remember the experience of watching the movie. without actually watching it. so since it can help remember, it can provide more value and enjoyment than online streaming. hmm just guessing . also the technology still isnt quite there yet.

[Clark Kent]

For anyone over a certain age, which I will peg at 18 or so, there simply is no threat for downloads to take over for physical media. But many young kids under that age will not have the same attachment to physical media when they grow up like the older generations. Downloads will take over eventually, but only when the youth of today have grown up and become the majority of consumers.

We are talking years in the future though, like 2025 or 2030. Blu-ray media will have a long, healthy life.

[Lucy Diamond]

I learned my lesson with Burnout Paradise. I got into the Burnout game very late (like two weeks ago) because I decided out of the blue to try a demo and got SO HOOKED SO FAST I couldn't wait to order it and it has been long sold out everywhere around me for a while.

Long story short, I downloaded the full game and it took HOURS. I mean...I coulda gone to videogames New York in the east village and been back way sooner than it took to download.

So now...I found some sites that have promotional codes for unlockable cars and you can't add codes with the DL version.

Bottom line....better to have the disc.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by kevinbr100

it must be we buy/listen to music for different reasons than we buy/watch movies. at least for me. i have no issues with having digital copies of music. but having a physical representation of a film seems much more satisfying. i know it might have something to do with the collecting bug. as i was writing this i also thought, that having a physical copy of it allows us to look at and touch the case, helping us remember the experience of watching the movie. without actually watching it. so since it can help remember, it can provide more value and enjoyment than online streaming. hmm just guessing . also the technology still isnt quite there yet.

I`d rather have a physical copy of music (LP, CD, SACD) than a digital download any day of the week. As far as the collectability factor is concerned, disc formats of music media enjoy a huge collectibles market...in the millions.

John

[EQ3282]

This entire argument comes down to quality, really.

High Quality music and films only current medium is in disc format. If you want the best, you're currently restricted to buying SACD/CDs and Blu's.

Downloading offers the same product, but at a lower quality. With most people's internet connections, it would take, literally, a day to download anything in HD/blu-ray quality. For music, it would take over an hour to download a CD-quality album. This doesn't even put into consideration that most home computers' don't have the capacity to be able to store many of these 'high quality' downloads.

However, as we've seen with music downloads taking over the music industry, most people are OK with lesser quality...at least in the music arena. The iPod was an amazing device, and without it, I am not sure that we would be seeing downloads stealing such a large market share today. It was the perfect storm, where innovation met technology right at the crossroads.
I think that downloading films/movies will continue to creep higher each year, but I think people are aware that watching a movie on the computer doesn't have the same look/feel as watching it on a 50 inch TV. And, no device like the iPod has come out for downloadable movies, and I don't think there ever will be. The consumer is hesitant, due to the time it takes to download a movie and the typical low viewing quality.

Thus, movie downloads and VOD will not be in the 'prime' spot for many, many years, until technology can catch up to the innovation.

[Blu-Benny]

i as well am a movie collector....been slowly fasing out and/or selling anything else i've collected in the past to 1: save on space and 2: give me more income to dedicate to my movies and HT.

[connect42]

For me quality is only part of the issue. Blu-ray offers better quality than any download I have seen. The other part, for me, is that I like to have my hands on what I own. It is one of the reasons I don't shop Amazon very much. Part of the fun for me is going to MovieStop or Walmart to look at discs, find what I want, and leave the store with it. It may sound ridiculous, but opening the package is fun - even peeling off the annoying case stickers. I can't do that with a download.

[repete66211]

Not to mention the fact that with downloads and digital copies you're essentially just paying for a memory. What makes them easy to come by--a convenient click of the button--also assures that they are temporary and disposable.

This reminds me of the move away from film and toward digital cameras. Buying and developing film was a hassle, but once it was done you are less likely to throw out the pictures. With the digital camera it's just point and click. They're not physical objects. They go from the camera to the computer to some website and then they're eventually deleted. There will be almost no photo documentation of an entire generation. As a big fan of old photos I think it's kinda sad to think about.

[AKORIS]

[QUOTE=John72953;1900222]I`d rather have a physical copy of music (LP, CD, SACD) than a digital download any day of the week. As far as the collectability factor is concerned, disc formats of music media enjoy a huge collectibles market...in the millions.

Amen brother!

[krazeyeyez]

you know i used to prefer discs, but i am starting to hate discs, dvd, blu, cd whatever, i have bad luck or something, but i get to see the words.....

disc read error
no disc
cannot read disc

way to often for my taste, it would be nice if i could have the disc as a master and have some way to just rip it from the disc on to a BDP with a hard drive, and since they are internet connected they could prevent piracy potential that way, just like with the digital copies, only HD and no downloading just a file off the master disc. OPTICAL in my experience is unreliable and drives always crash sooner or later, sooner in my case because of how often i play movies (no cable )

[betterman]

it's psychological.

nothing can substitute physical experience.

give as gift, etc...