PreRecorded Entertainment Down, Blu-Ray Up
That’s according to Digital Entertainment Group, which says overall the pre-recorded entertainment industry’s first quarter was down 5% year over year. Â That’s a gross sales number, which encompasses DVD and Blu-Ray, as well as the few tapes still being sold. Blu-Ray format sales are up sharply, but that is apparently at the expense of other formats, primarily DVD.
Studio profits from pre-recorded were down somewhat less than 4% according to the report.
There has been some talk amongst IA members that Blu-Ray sales are not considered part of DVD sales with respect to residual payments into our pension and health funds, because they are not actually DVDs. Getting good info from the IA makes pulling teeth look easy, so I don’t know if this is true. But – I am interested in how they’re treated under the SAG agreements…?