News: DVD purchases down 16% in 2010

DVD purchases fell 16% in the first nine months of 2010, according to the Digital Entertainment Group, but spending on films and TV shows declined only 4% as consumers found news ways of watching, from online services such as Netflix to kiosk rentals including Redbox.

Movie studio-backed DEG reported that purchases of Blu-ray titles rose 80%, showing consumers are embracing the high-definition format.

Spending on movies online, including streams and downloads, rose 37%, and video-on-demand increased 20%.

Rental spending fell 4.4%, but revenue from DVD and Blu-ray kiosks lifted 55%.

This is all ahead of the fourth quarter, when the biggest movies will be released on DVD and Blu-ray, including:

• The Expendables
• The Other Guys
• Shrek Forever After
• Inception
• Nanny McPhee Returns
• Twilight Saga: Eclipse
• Eat Pray Love
• Knight and Day
• Salt
• Cats & Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore
• The Last Airbender
• Toy Story 3
• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
• Despicable Me
• and a new version of best-selling Avatar.