If it wasn’t clear yet that streaming is igniting a home entertainment revolution, recent data proves how, at least in the U.S., it’s taking serious hold.
The Digital Entertainment Group reported recently (h/t Cord Cutters News) that Americans spent a whopping $25.2 billion on home entertainment this past year. Among that 2019 spending, $15.9 billion of it (63%) was on streaming subscriptions.
In addition to the rampant streaming, physical/disc copies of content were down, as digital purchases and rentals are more common now. Let’s focus on the streaming element of this home entertainment information.
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According to the stats, home entertainment spending increased by 8.4% from the previous year. The aforementioned physical copy sales are down over 18% from 2018.
Physical disc rentals were down 19.5%, which is a positive for most streamers. Considering how much the companies spend, though, every source of revenue must keep trending up. What’s good for everyone is that subscription streaming increased 24 percent in 2019.
There’s less incentive to rent or buy digitally and especially when it comes to physical copies. With so many streaming platforms popping up, customers are likely to pay subscription premiums to have all their content in one place.
Well, “one place” meaning spread across several streaming services. HBO Max and Peacock are among those buying up iconic series and movies to try to compete. Meanwhile, Apple TV+ and CBS All Access are more focused on original TV programming.
Amazon Prime Video is the only one to be in the market near as long as Netflix, and has plenty of firepower. The service has original TV, movies and can outdo others in bidding-war projects. Finally, Disney+ is on virtual cruise control but owns such keys IPs as Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar.
Meanwhile, Netflix continues to outspend the competition, but it could pay off as long as consumers shell out for superior convenience: streaming home entertainment.