Home Market Numbers: April 7th, 2013: Post-Easter Weekend Sinks Home Market

May 23, 2013

The week of April 7th, 2013 was the weekend after Easter, and Easter tends to have a lot of sales for DVDs and Blu-rays, so it should come as no surprise there was a drop in sales. Additionally, the new releases were led by The Bible: The Epic Miniseries, both in terms of units and revenue, which is not a prime Blu-ray release. One could argue The Avengers Megaset, Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One was a more impressive debut, all things considered. Neither release was enough to buoy the overall Blu-ray market, which fell 64% in terms of units and 52% in terms of revenue. Total units fell below the 1 million mark for the first time since January and only the third time this year with 936,000 units, while the revenue fell to $29.28 million. Blu-ray sales fell compared to last year, down 39% in terms of units and 17% in terms of revenue. Granted, there was a misalignment in the Easter weekend, so we shouldn't take too much stock in this one result. With very little in the way of new releases, the overall Blu-ray share fell to 32% in terms of units and 41% in terms of revenue. This isn't a great result, but it's hardly a reason to panic. The market will bounce back, in a couple weeks.

This week's DVD sales collapsed compared to last week and last year. The post-Easter week saw 60% fewer units sold and 51% less revenue generated. Compared to last year, which was the Easter weekend, there were 56% fewer units sold and 40% less revenue generated. It is a really bad week, but there are mitigating circumstances, so you shouldn't panic.

Next week's new releases were even worse than this week's new releases. Something is going to be the best of this group, but none really deserve to be. There is a bit of good news. Last year's new releases were nearly as bad. The Iron Lady only managed second place on the DVD sales chart, while The Darkest Hour topped the Blu-ray sales chart. I think 2013 is going to lose again, but it won't be as bad as its losses this week.


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Filed under: Video Sales, The Avengers