bruceames

1) 4K Blu-ray is still Blu-ray so sales will count as Blu-ray sales whether it's 1080p or 4k

2) If by the streaming route you mean Netflix or other SVOD then there is little overlap between it and disc sales, as most BD revenue comes from new and recent releases (which don't come to Netflix until the sell-through sales have run their course). If by streaming you mean direct competition from SVOD or Digital HD then I don't think Blu-ray has much to worry about because Blu-ray growth and Digital HD growth are about same right now (both in the positive single digits). IMO in the long run, for purchasing to own, there will be more teeth in disc than in digital as quality is always one step ahead and collectors always prefer physical more.

Adam Tyner

Since the Ultra HD Blu-ray back and forth was oriented primarily around the merits (or lack thereof?) of the format rather than sales, I moved those posts into their own thread.

bruceames

Sorry when I last posted I was thinking this was the 4K blu-ray thread. Duh!

AGuyNamedMike

Wait, who created the title "Blu-ray and DVD sales - um, okay, I guess the % doesn't keep going up"?

Adam Tyner

It was started as "DVD sales off about 50% in past 3 years, BR %'s keep going up.". I think Iron_Giant came up with that.

I fiddled with that last part since "past 3 years" roots it in a particular point in time and because Blu-ray's market share was no longer steadily going up. That was me being snarky.

AGuyNamedMike

I see.

Two demerits. Slap yourself on the wrist.

Adam Tyner

Ouch. Done.

I retitled the thread in your honor.

Sub-Zero

December 10:

PhantomStranger

Blu-ray is not putting up the same kind of fight it did last Christmas season. I think retail availability is starting to impact sales, as many Christmas gifts are impulse purchases at retail.

jjcool

But what about all the 4k sales? Surely that should buoy the numbers, no?

But seriously, I think you hit the nail on the head with the availability. Brick and mortar stores are stocking less, which leads to fewer sales. That and more and more people are making the leap to streaming.

Adam Tyner

I'd stream more if I could rely on any service actually having the movies I want to watch. Whenever my wife has a particular movie in mind, we browse through Netflix, Amazon Video, HBO/Starz/etc. apps, our cable company's clumsy VOD service, etc. More often than not, we have to pay instead of using one of the streaming services we already pay for. These aren't even strange, exotic movies we're talking about.

To watch a Blu-ray Disc, I grab it off the shelf and press play.

Streaming is great for TV shows. It's great for nights where you want to watch something but don't know what. For anything specific...? Miserable.

Dan

^ canistream.it and moreflicks.com kind of help with that, but I find both sites have been getting worse over time, and less reliable.

But I agree. I wanted to watch Whiplash last night. I knew I saw it on one of the services before, but couldn't remember which one. I checked Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, and Vudu. Only Vudu had it, but for a rental fee, so I watched something else instead.

(Turns out Whiplash was actually on Netflix... in Canada. I saw it when scrolling through the app at my mother's house last month. Netflix Canada generally sucks, but they seem to have more desirable movie choices than any other region for some reason)

jjcool

As streaming becomes more popular, or prevalent, we are seeing more and more rights owners get into the streaming game. Back when there were only a few names in streaming, you used to be able to find most things on one or two services. Now it seems like everybody has their own streaming service so no one wants to give up their rights to any one entity to stream everything. It sucks, but they have found out that there is money in streaming, and there is more money if they run it than there is in licensing apparently.

Alan Smithee

Unlimited-streaming services are NEVER going to have every movie ever made available- there's a far bigger selection of streaming movies for rental (paying by the title), though there's a few titles that are only available for "purchase" and thus cost a bit more.

bruceames

I have Netflix for the grandkids but personally I never watch streaming services. Still 100 percent old school disc.

bruceames

Blu-ray did pretty good the week before (BF week) so it's not a trend yet. The next two weeks will be really important for the yearly numbers because they are normally among the biggest.

Sub-Zero

December 17:

Josh-da-man

slop101

Why DVDs and Blu-rays remain essential in the age of streaming

Even the best streaming experience can’t compete with the benefits of physical media.

BuckNaked2k

December 24:

bunkaroo

Has anyone else noticed new releases from WB seem to be stubbornly sticking with 24.99 as their release day price?

I first noticed it with Suicide Squad. Hasn't been below 24.99 yet on Amazon according to Blu-ray.com's price tracker. Sully also came out at 24.99 and The Accountant looks to be the same deal this week.

I'm not sure if list prices have changed or what, but I haven't noticed this with other releases. Typically new releases have been 19.99 or sometimes less. That still seems to be the case with other studios' releases.

bunkaroo

Just saw this article now. Pretty much nails why I am sticking with physical media, but as we saw with music, most people don't care about the things this article mentions because convenience trumps all of it.

I find it funny though that vinyl is making such a comeback. It's making a comeback because of sound quality and it's fun to collect. You'd think people would recognize that and apply that sentiment to movies, but apparently we will need to wait for home video to really be in the crapper before people decide it's "cool" to own movies on disc again.

Coral

Yep. It doesn't matter that video/audio quality for streaming is inferior to physical media - as long as it looks/sounds good (and a lot of it does look/sound pretty damn good), people will sacrifice the extra quality for convenience and price every time. Otherwise streaming music/iTunes, etc. wouldn't have taken such a huge chunk away from physical music sales.

A lot vinyl's resurgence has to do with collecting factor, artwork and profiting from reselling. The amount of people who buy it for audio-quality is much smaller.

My cousins 16 year old is buying some vinyl... and she doesn't have a turntable and has no plans to get one. She does it simply for the artwork/collect-ability. This is quite common now:

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-36027867

I don't think it'll ever be cool to own movies again. Whether movies are on a physical format or just online for streaming... they're still just 1's and 0's - so there's no sense of nostalgia like there is with vinyl. DVD/BD's have much smaller artwork compared to vinyl and there's less interaction with the disc (ie. the only time you handle the disc is when you plop it in the player).

Sub-Zero

December 31:

BuckNaked2k

Well, that's a wrap for 2016. I look forward to bruceames' spreadsheets to see how everything shook out.