entertainment

Consumers Still Like Their DVDs, Blu-Rays

Despite the ever-increasing consumption of content through digital means, consumers are still attached to their video discs.

According to GfK’s Home Technology Monitor, consumers who once owned (or still own) physical copies of films and television shows are less likely to add intangible digital versions to their collections. 

“Consumers are having problems figuring out the download procedures or remembering passwords or services,” says David Tice, senior vice president of media and entertainment at GfK. “It’s not as simple as just putting in a disc and playing it.”

According to the study (which is based on a survey of more than 1,000 consumers), only 46% of consumers say they have ever purchased or rented a digital-only copy of a TV program or movie, compared with 86% who have bought or rented DVDs or Blur-Ray discs (and 78% who have bought or rented VHS tapes). 

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Additionally, while 37% of consumers said they had bought a DVD or Blu-Ray that also contained a digital version of the content, two-thirds of them never accessed that version, saying they either couldn’t see the need or simply weren’t interested. “Few people are taking advantage of that,” Tice tells Marketing Daily. “They don’t see a use for it.”

Though many of these consumers have shown a propensity to own video content in the past, consumers seem to believe they have access to enough content through streaming and subscription models, and owning the content has become less of a priority, Tice says. 

“Content creators and distributors need to do a better job of translating viewers’ passions and curiosity into digital transactions at the title level – which brings a lot more direct revenue to the companies involved,” he says. Accordingly, these content creators and distributors may need to embark on further efforts to educate consumers about the ease and simplicity of owning digital content, which is something the subscription streaming services have mastered. 

“People who have subscriptions to the streaming services feel they can get enough [content] to keep them occupied. And, again, there’s that ease of use,” Tice says. “Half the battle may be to communicate to people that [digital download procedures] are not that much worse than logging in to other services.”

2 comments about "Consumers Still Like Their DVDs, Blu-Rays".
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  1. James Unitas from Stern Advertising, August 25, 2016 at 10:55 a.m.

    Wait, what? 78% have rented or purchased a VHS copy? What kind of survey was this? Did they only target 34+ demo? That statisctic clearly demonstrates the survey was flawed. There is no way anyone under 30 has ever rented or purchased a VHS. They may have owned them through purchases of their parents, but they themselves did NOT rent or purchase. Being Millenials and diginatives would be more likely to use and easily operate digital copies, but were not included in this survey, these numbers are undoubtedly, severly skewed and incomplete.

  2. John Grono from GAP Research, August 28, 2016 at 4:41 a.m.

    James, most pundits date that DVDs overtook VHS between 2000-2005.   Using your 'under 30 threshold, someone who is 30 now would have been around 15.   Kids are ENORMOUS consumers of recorded programmes.   The question asked is "have you ever...".   The data seems to accord to me. 

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