Fewer people are going to the cinemas than 10 years ago, as people are able to watch it on-line, films coming out in cinemas will be affected as many people will be allowed to watch latest released films in their homes. Therefore the film industry is really worried as fewer people are going to the cinemas. Since 2002 when 1.58 billion tickets were sold, numbers have fallen to 1.22 billion for 2011, a drop which is 20%.
Avatar alone sold four million DVDs in the first four days of its release. Before the digital transition, VHS provided healthy incomes, but streaming services seem to be changing everything.Electronics retailer Pixmania said that DVD players are at the top of its 2010 most endangered technologies. DVD's have been very popular in the US, Avatar sold more than 4 million DVD's in the first four days when it's released. However, streaming services such as downloading films on-line have impacted various amounts of people. Electronics retailer 'Pixmania' states that DVD players are at the top of its "2010's most endangered technologies" list, ahead of TV.
DVD's haven't gone smoothly as even though DVD's are taking around 75% of the market share, figures for DVDs have been in decline for the last four years. In the first quarter of 2011, physical sales in the DVD market dropped by 19%, and high-street rental fell by 36% year-on-year. This is a huge disadvantage as for example, Skyfall spent $150 million - 200 million on the whole film, this included promotional techniques for example on the London buses Daniel Craig's poster was up there in character promoting the blue-ray DVD. However, as many people are not buying DVDs and can download films on-line they'd be wasting some of there money which is a downside and drawback.
The price of on-line content has fallen dramatically for consumers as they've seen and identified how popular it is. As Netflix subscription allows unlimited streaming for only £5.00 a month and this is watching latest releases of films! sitting at home on a computer or even phone! Lovefilm, offers a similar service for £10.00. With more than 23.5 million subscribed to Netflix, and 1.5 million to LoveFilm, this is a sign that many more people will turn to on streaming services.
