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.

2013 - Holiday Gift Guide - Part III

December 19th, 2013

Part III of the Holiday Gift Guide is a little late due to reasons you probably don't want to hear the details about. (I believe I've developed a food allergy to something in Eggnog.) The third installment of our holiday gift guide includes independent films, classics, foreign films, etc. The fastest way to find gifts is to go to the Independent Spirit Awards nominations and find any film that is on that list that is already out on DVD / Blu-ray (Frances Ha, Mud, etc.). Unfortunately, most of the films competing for Awards Season glory are still in theaters and not available as gifts. But there are still many films worth picking up, starting with... More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for August 27th, 2013

August 26th, 2013

It's a terrible week on the home market. There's not a lot in terms of top sellers, although The Great Gatsby should lead the way. The only first-run release is Pain and Gain, which will likely not sell a lot on the home market. There are a few TV on DVD releases to fill in the gaps, like The Walking Dead or Elementary; however, by the end of the first page of new releases on Amazon.com, we run into filler. As for Pick of the Week, the best is The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh on Blu-ray Combo Pack. I'm still waiting for the screener, but it is such a good movie and it is slow week that it is still Pick of the Week. More...