Our DVD and Blu-ray sales estimates are based on weekly retail surveys, which we use to build a weekly market share estimate for each title we are tracking. The market share is converted into a weekly sales estimate based on industry reports on the overall size of the market, including reports published in Media Play News.

For example, if our weekly retail survey estimates that a particular title sold 1% of all units that week, and the industry reports sales of 1,500,000 units in total, we will estimate 15,000 units were sold of that title. The consumer spending estimate is based on the average sales price for the title in the retailers we survey.

We refine our estimates from week to week as more data becomes available. In particular, we adjust weekly sales figures for the quarter once the total market estimates are published by the Digital Entertainment Group. Figures will therefore fluctuate each week, and totals for individual titles can go up or down as we update our estimates.

Because sales figures are estimated based on sampling, they will be more accurate for higher-selling titles.

Blu-ray Sales: The Average Spider-Man

January 8th, 2013

There were half-a-dozen new releases to chart on the November 11th edition of the Blu-ray sales chart. This includes The Amazing Spider-Man, which earned first place with 641,000 units / $14.37 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 54%, which is impressive, but one has to assume the studio was hoping for more. Then again, the film is more than profitable enough to ensure a sequel. More...

DVD Sales: Not So Amazing Start

December 9th, 2012

It was a soft week for new releases on the DVD sales chart and the holdovers were not a lot of help. The Amazing Spider-Man did earn first place, but with an unimpressive opening of 536,000 units / $9.62 million. There are two mitigating factors here. Firstly, the film will likely perform much better on Blu-ray. Secondly, it was released on Friday, so it had a shortened opening week. More...

Contest: Bedeviled and Befuddled: Winning Announcement

November 28th, 2012

The winners of our Bedeviled and Befuddled contest were determined and they are... More...

Contest: Bedeviled and Befuddled

November 16th, 2012

Next week is Thanksgiving long weekend, which makes things a little more confusing than usual on our weekly Box Office Prediction Contest. There are three wide releases coming out, but they all debut on Wednesday rather than Friday. (Although we still are only concerned with the Friday through Sunday numbers.) Of the three films, Life of Pi is earning the best reviews of the weekend, but it's only hope to be a $100 million hit is if it earns enough Awards Season buzz to still be in semi-wide release in January. It certainly won't have a monster opening. The oft-delayed Red Dawn finally comes out, but the buzz is just as weak as its early reviews. This leaves Rise of The Guardians as the only real choice for the target film in this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Rise of The Guardians. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of Bedeviled on Blu-ray. Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win a copy of Fire with Fire on DVD. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

Contest: Sky is Falling: Winning Announcement

November 15th, 2012

The winners of our Sky is Falling contest were determined and they are... More...