dvd market growth Tuesday, October 19, 2004 - CENTURY CITY --...

dvd market growth Tuesday, October 19, 2004 - CENTURY CITY -- Fueled by robust sales of such series as "The Simpsons," "Friends" and "Sex in the City," the TV-DVD business is expected to hit $2.3 billion in sales this year, with 30 percent increases predicted each year through 2008.

The optimistic forecast, presented Tuesday at Video Store Magazine's second annual TV DVD Conference, reflects the skyrocketing trend of consumers collecting both newer shows as well as classics on DVD.

"People are buying and buying and buying the products," said Judith McCourt, Video Store's market research director. "Everyone wants a piece of it. Consumers love it, studios have it, and it's a moneymaker."

TV-DVD sales through the first nine months of 2004 are running 65 percent ahead of the same period last year. In 2003, total TV-DVD sales reached $1.4 billion, McCourt said at the event held at the Century Plaza Hotel.

McCourt said 51 percent of consumers buy the TV discs simply because they want to own them, 35 percent want to see a show again and again, while 20 percent will buy a season boxed set because they missed several episodes.

Ralph Tribbey, editor and publisher of the DVD Release Report, an industry newsletter, expects more than 400 TV DVD boxed sets to be released next year -- approximately the same number released this year.

"We've literally gone from zero to eight boxed sets released each and every week this year," Tribbey said. "I think we are reaching the zenith of what the market can absorb."

The top TV title so far this year is "Chapelle's Show Season One: Uncensored," which has sold more than 2 million units, making the Comedy Central hit the best-selling television show in DVD history, according to Paramount Home Entertainment.

Other top 10 sellers in 2004 included "The Simpsons," "Friends," "Family Guy" and "In Living Color."

While television content was the focus of the one-day conference, overall home entertainment industry news was also reported. The Digital Entertainment Group, an industry trade organization, announced that 6.6 million DVD players were sold during this year's third quarter -- the best third quarter ever -- bringing the number of DVD households with set-top players in the United States to 63 million.

DEG said that approximately 340 million DVDs have been sold in the third quarter of 2004, a 59 percent increase over the same period a year earlier. Nearly 1 billion discs have been shipped during the first nine months of the year, nearly matching the entire total of 2003.

"The unprecedented growth of the DVD format is a true testament to the partnerships between the hardware, software and retail industries," said DEG President Bob Chapek, also president of Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment. -- Greg Hernandez, (818) 713-3758 [email protected]