M+E Daily
Spending on Disc Rentals Rose in Q2: Rentrak
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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.
