Categories
DVD

Congratulations DVD!

DVD Rental Revenue Tops VHS For First Week Ever
Is the disc mightier than the cassette? For the first week ever, DVD rentals generated more revenue than VHS rentals last week — six years to the month after the launch of the DVD format in the United States.
For the week ending March 16, 2003, DVD rentals generated $80 million, with VHS rentals pulling $78 million, according to figures from the Video Software Dealers Assoc. (VSDA) VidTrac.
“Consumers rejoice in the quality, convenience, and value-added features of DVDs, and are clearly attracted to DVD as an item both to purchase and to rent,” says Bo Andersen, president of VSDA. “Given the choice to buy or to rent DVDs, the American public has chosen both.”
In 2002, DVD rental revenue accounted for 35 percent of the total video rental market, but DVDs have dominated sales revenues over VHS formats since 2001, according to Adams Media Research.
In terms of number of actual units rented, VHS remains the preferred format by 54 percent last week, according to VSDA VidTrac. However, DVD rentals are steadily increasing and is expected to soon overtake VHS in actual units as well.
VSDA VidTrac measures national consumer video rental spending based on actual rental transactions.