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.

DVD Sales: Living it Up in Beverly Hills

February 15th, 2011

Overall, new releases were rather weak, but we did see four films reach the top 30 on the sales chart this week, including a new number one. That film was Beverly Hill Chihuahua 2, which sold 712,000 units, generating $10.67 million in opening week revenue. Granted, this was half as many sales as the original, but that was a theatrical release and this was direct-to-DVD, so I think Disney has to be very happy with this release. In fact, they might be thinking franchise. More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for February 1st, 2011

February 1st, 2011

There's still a lull when it comes to first-run releases on the home market with no major, or even midlevel hits coming out this week. In fact, the best-selling release according to Amazon.com is Alice in Wonderland on Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack, which is a contender for Pick of the Week. The other major contender is Let Me In on Blu-ray, which failed to find an audience despite impressing critics almost as much as the original did. I'm going to give the honor to Let Me In, but both are worthy contenders. More...

Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: Alice in Wonderland

January 31st, 2011

Alice in Wonderland was the thirteenth animated film made by Walt Disney, but thirteen turned out to be an unlucky number, as the film was not a critical or a commercial success when it was first released. Now 60 years later, has it aged into a classic, or were the original critics right? More...