DVDs Are Flying Onto Store Shelves

Hollywood continued shipping DVDs at a record pace in the first half of 2004, with the number of discs sent to stores increasing 52% from a year earlier to 649 million, according to trade industry figures to be released today in Las Vegas.

The figures also show that the sale of DVD players continued rising at a healthy clip to 13 million units, up 25% from a year earlier.

The data are scheduled to be released today at the Video Software Dealers Assn. convention by the Digital Entertainment Group, which represents studios and electronics companies.

The numbers come as the industry is preparing for a maturing of the business that will inevitably come when DVD players are in nearly every U.S. household. Companies are working on a transition to high-definition players and discs that they hope will spur demand for movies on disc.

According to Video Business magazine, some of the films helping to drive DVD sales in the first half included “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,” “Brother Bear,” “Lion King 1 1/2,” “American Wedding” and “The Matrix Revolutions.”

The Digital Entertainment Group said that 103 million DVD players had been sold in the U.S. since the format was introduced in the mid-1990s, with the number of households owning the players now estimated at 62 million.

Bob Chapek, president of Walt Disney Co.’s Buena Vista Home Entertainment, who is president of the trade group, said households that own DVD players on average were buying 16 discs a year.