DVD sales expected to decline further

Consumers looking to reduce unnecessary spending are turning to streaming services and rental kiosks as opposed to purchasing new DVDs, a movie industry executive recently  said.

Since the introduction of $1 daily rental kiosks and Netflix, customers are more interested in renting DVDs and streaming content, analysts note.

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"Two, three years ago people had no problem purchasing a DVD for $18," said DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg during a recent Internet conference.  "Suddenly, $20 is something you think about. Twenty dollars for a DVD you will watch once or twice, in a world where there’s Netflix, Blockbuster, Redbox, many VOD services, digital delivery, Amazon, we can go through the list of options on a per play basis where you can watch for $5 or $3 or $2.50."

BlockBuster has increased its efforts to sell used DVDs to customers, in a renewed effort to compete with Netflix and other competitors.  Redbox also sells used DVDs to customers so the rental kiosk operator is able to quickly offload older, less requested movies.

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I believe the movie industry will continue to convince consumers to migrate to the high-definition Blu-ray format -- the cost of HDTVs, Blu-ray players, and Blu-ray movies have decreased -- and are expected to slide more over the next 12 months.

The continued modernization of the movie industry will force movie studios to embrace newer, unfamiliar technologies.  If DVDs sales continue to decline due to streaming services and Blu-ray, it's up to Hollywood to find new methods to woo customers.

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