Online video expected to outsell DVDs for the first time ever

[Shawn Knight]

For the first time ever, yearly revenue generated from movie downloads and video streaming subscriptions will surpass those of DVD rentals and sales in the US according to a report from consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

PWC said it expects revenue from digital delivery to rise 13 percent this year to $9.5 billion before climbing to $12 billion by 2017. Sales and rentals of physical media, meanwhile, will slide to $7.8 billion by the end of the year.

Perhaps the only reason that DVDs have hung around this long is Redbox. The popular kiosk for DVDs, Blu-ray and video game rentals has proven incredibly successful with nearly 44,000 locations still in operation.

Redbox was forced to raise its prices late last year to $1.50 per day for a DVD to compensate for declining rental rates. Even still, it’s an affordable option for many that lack access to a speedy broadband connection required for video streaming.

Just last year, streaming music overtook CD sales in the US. The Recording Industry Association of America reported that streaming revenue hit $1.87 billion last year. In contrast, sales of CDs brought in slightly less at $1.85 billion. Music sales as a whole, however, fell 0.5 percent to $6.79 billion.

Have you made the jump to streaming video yet or are you clinging to your DVD / CD collection for dear life? Let us know your preferences in the comments sections below.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/60889-online-video-expected-outsell-dvds-first-time-ever.html

 

[stewi0001]

I prefer to have a tangible version. Mainly because I haven't built a media center and it is always good to have a backup.

 

[9Nails]

I visited a Redbox kiosk last night. I wasn't impressed with the selection and walked away empty handed. I would think that just $1.61 (what they charge me with taxes) would be small enough for me to try any movie, and I would probably enjoy it. But even with a $.50 off code I still wasn't willing to rent a movie from the machine. I suppose that's the problem with physical media; the right titles have to be there in front of the right customers.

 

[S_Brideau]

Even with the existence of RedBox I'm surprised it hasn't already surpassed dvd sales.

 

[psycros]

You wouldn't know it was that close of a race where I live. If its after 3 PM there's always someone at the Redboxes around here, and on the weekends there's usually a line. There's also a good number of folks with Netflix but they always say there's very little worth streaming..they still rely on discs.

 

[captaincranky]

You couldn't give me this streaming crap on a dare. If Redbox or DVDXpress doesn't have it, it's usually not worth watching.
You just have to play the system. Stay up til it goes into the machines on Tuesday mornings, and reserve it online.

Amazon's rental prices are nonsense. A blockbuster might be 6 bucks, while the worst B movie might be a buck or two. And don't get me started about buying content online. I did that once with Amazon, and never again.

The next thing you know, you have some crap program that has to be used to watch the material, running at startup, and you really can't move the material to another machine without installing the same crapware there. So, it's like you own what you bought, or sort of, but not really.

Now you can't even buy MP3s from Amazon without their crapware installed.

I rent optical discs, and buy CDs, neither of which I need FIOS to run.

Yeah, I'm old, but to the upside, Goodwill Industries has a lot of my favorite music on CD for less than a buck a pop!