Indies go for Blu: non-major market share approaching DVD levels

[Grubert]

Research indicates that local and independent video distributors in the US and the UK are becoming increasingly active in the Blu-ray market.

According to first-half figures for the year from Screen Digest’s US research arm, Adams Media Research (AMR), the combined market share of companies other than the big six (Disney, Fox, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner) increased dramatically in the first six months of 2008.

While in 2007 independent titles accounted for only 1.4% of US consumer spend, in the first half of this year this increased to 14%. This, says Screen Digest analyst Richard Cooper, is a level cmparable to that of the independents’ 15% share of DVD sales.

[...]

Says Cooper: “The BD release slate has already moved beyond almost exclusively the domain of US majors to reflect a more mature video market with a title slate showing involvement from independent studios on both sides of the Atlantic. The number of BD releases remains small compared with the output on DVD [270 titles compared with 6,500 DVDs by mid-August 2008 in the US] and the success of a few individual titles can easily skew total market figures.”

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