Nielsen VideoScan High-Def market share for week ending December 23rd, 2007
Not sure if we're ever going to catch up, but this weeks edition of Home Media Magazine includes the Nielsen VideoScan results from the week ending December 23rd. And just like the week before -- and the week after -- Blu-ray has the majority with a 61:39 (1.56:1) share. For the second week in the row, the latest Bourne movie was able to hold off Blu-ray's best; The Simpson Movie. Blu's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was once again able to out pace red's, but not by much. For the first time since we can remember HD DVD has four titles in the top ten -- up from three -- with Transformers holding on to a top ten spot after two months of being released. While we hope that HMM skips a week in it's next issue, either way we'd expect much of the same -- yeah, real obvious when we already know the overall numbers -- with the lackluster titles released on both sides. We are interested to see how Blu-ray's first profile 1.1 titles sell, but unless the BDA tells us at CES, who knows when we will see those numbers.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DEEZNUTZ @ Jan 4th 2008 2:19PM
Oh man, here we go again.
Augustus @ Jan 4th 2008 2:24PM
61:39 guys. Just a heads-up.
Cam @ Jan 4th 2008 2:29PM
Yeah I was gonna say...
Don't make it look any worse than it has to be!
:)
Ben @ Jan 4th 2008 2:31PM
Doh!
Thanks for the correction!
I changed it.
Eddie @ Jan 4th 2008 2:33PM
More of the same. I have a nagging feeling the higher margin on HD DVD is keeping Blu from running away with the show. Strategic moves throughout the xmas season I think will produce an upset in 08 and start turning the tide, but I could be wrong. I just really hope HD DVD wins for the consumers' sake, I hate Sony.
JimC @ Jan 4th 2008 3:16PM
Thankfully, business world doesn't hinge on peoples hates or loves of a company but where they put their $$$
JayHDDVD @ Jan 4th 2008 2:36PM
It needs to be 80:20 for sometime in order for any white flags to start waving.
Sorry but 61 is still too close to right down the middle. The war wages on... ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz
LA26 @ Jan 4th 2008 2:40PM
The figures included in the BOGO on the new titles that HD-DVD released that week were apart of this Neilsen report?
With them skipping weeks I'm getting a little confused.
What surprises me is that Planet Earth almost beat out HP on the HD-DVD side.
That is interesting.It seems that what 300 is to Blu-Ray is what Planet Earth is to HD-DVD in terms of a must buy title.
Andrew @ Jan 4th 2008 3:00PM
The BOGO was after Christmas.
rg23 @ Jan 4th 2008 2:43PM
It is a shame that Nielsen doesn't have any way of taking out BOGO numbers away from these figures. The net numbers are the true numbers that people should be looking at. The data collection methods and data collection tools must be archaic. Its already the 21st century and we're already talking about high definition. They should be more sophisticated.
MJD @ Jan 4th 2008 2:58PM
I trust these numbers as much as a politician, and fans of either format should be the same. What are the statistical chances that 61:39 would fall 3 straight weeks, and during the holidays at that? The same chance of me hitting the lottery?
John B @ Jan 4th 2008 3:17PM
That's exactly why I say that I'll be less critical of the numbers come March or April. There no doubt that a lot of people received HDM players for the holidays. It will take some time for people's finances to recover from the holidays and to start buying media for the players that they received. *THEN* the numbers should be more concrete.
Of course, what Warner does (if anything) could change all of that. Warner must be loving the attention they're getting right now.
JDS @ Jan 4th 2008 3:00PM
The week ending 12.30.2007 numbers are also 61% BD VS. 39% HD-DVD
HMM is a week behind but the numbers were leaked last night.
61% BD VS. 39% HD-DVD for the past 3 weeks
Andrew @ Jan 4th 2008 3:06PM
It does seem odd that for 3 straight weeks the percentages are exactly the same. Even without BOGO sales you'd still expect a little bit of deviation from week to week.
kcmurphy88 @ Jan 4th 2008 3:12PM
Adding up the reported shares for the top 10, we get BD:HD for the Top 10 as 58:42, so there's a bit more strength in the BD backlist than in HD's to get to 61:39 overall.
It's not that there are fewer HDDVD buyers: they had the top film, and the top two in this week's leak. It seems more like BD owners are buying a wider variety and possibly more per week each.
Might be a function of wealth: those that paid $499 for a player may feel like buying more films than someone who paid $199.
Things that are clear, though: the content argument is rather weak now, and the red camp is large enough to stand anything other than abrupt studio actions. I expect some smaller studios to go neutral now, and Fox may go soon (and Paramount, again, when they can).
Then again, I've gone purple, and it all looks like one format when you're purple.
LA26 @ Jan 4th 2008 3:15PM
Good points being made.
These Numbers are starting to look a bit suspect.
They should post the numbers via retailer and the split of sales followed by the overall sales split.
Would make these numbers look a bit more credible.
LOVE HD @ Jan 4th 2008 3:48PM
61-39 AFTER THE HDDVD BOGOS?(12.30.2007 )
good news for blu!!!!
Spiza @ Jan 4th 2008 3:11PM
Sharp will be giving free BDHP20U blu-ray players with any Sharp 1080p TV over 42" at both best buy and circuit city 1/6-1/12. Panasonic is bringing back their deal (much better all around imo), you get the DMP-BD30K for free with any Panasonic 1080p TV. Best Buy is also conitinuing the 5 free movies instantly with Blu-Ray player purchase, which includes the ones being given for free with TV.
They have 2 free instantly (with 2 in box) for the HD-A3.
Several Warner titles are on sale from both sides at best buy, which combined with the RZ coupon:
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/5381/20off3blurayri0.jpg
can net you 3 titles for $25 + tax.
John B @ Jan 4th 2008 3:12PM
The problem is that these numbers mean jack sh*t because we have no way of knowing how many PS3s owners are buying HDM.
We KNOW that HD DVD owners are buying their hardware to watch movies because they have no choice. If the various numbers are to be believed, BD players (including PS3) outshine HD DVD players by something like 6:1 IIRC, yet HDM is split to about 6:4. That means that, assuming that all PS3 owners buy BD movies, HD DVD owners spend a hell of a lot more money on media than BD owners. But without any solid numbers with respect to player ownership, these numbers make a much stronger showing for HD DVD than they do BD, even though the actual number of discs is in BD's favor.
Are there any numbers for the amount of discs that were actually sold? Really, I think this whole argument about percentages is BS. It could be 61:39 with only 10,000 units sold in which case there is a good argument for going exclusive to one format or the other. But if it's 61:39 with 1 million discs sold, 390,000 for HD DVD is no small amount of discs, regardless of the 22-point spread between the two formats.
*sigh* Hopefully, I'll be able to declare my purple status after my taxes are done. :/
JimC @ Jan 4th 2008 3:34PM
It really doesn't matter, because these numbers are for title sales, does it matter how many PS3 owners are buying or not? Only if you cling to the attach rate spin. Attach rate or not, the amount of titles sold is a strong indicator of where HDM is going. It is foolish to think that because of the millions of PS3 owners, blu-ray is actually losing even though they are selling more titles. the PS3 factor is simply this: more potential. The installed base if not fully realized is a potential for continued blu-ray dominance whereas HDDVD's potential still relies on future hardware sales. Blu-ray has both, future hardware sales and some X-factor of PS3 owners who will realize their box can watch HD movies...so spinning PS3 as a negative is only fooling yourself...
John B @ Jan 4th 2008 3:43PM
Who said it's a negative? BD is outselling HD at 6:4. That's nothing to sneer at. I think it's a danger sign to HD DVD if the ratio of PS3 owners to HDM buyers is very low, because then a really strong marketing campaign might be all that BD needs to *really* pull ahead. So, I think knowing the number would be pretty significant.
Oh, and if you've read any of my other posts you'd know that I've already declared that a PS3 is going to be my BD player of choice. It's just a matter of "when" because we are talking a significant amount of dollars, compared to my $98 Wal-Mart HD-A2 special.
So, stop looking for some kind of conspiracy or anti-BD statements where none exist.
andyj @ Jan 4th 2008 3:14PM
Another week, another Blu-ray win.
This one, however, is special. As Blu-ray won the last week of 2006, it is now officially 52 weeks in a row of Blu-ray wins.
The Blu-ray domination continues on into 2008!
John B @ Jan 4th 2008 3:17PM
h4ldol? Is that you?
Michael @ Jan 4th 2008 3:25PM
Just went Nuetral myself by buying a PS3. Currently I'm still kinda cheering for HD-DVD because of my dislike of Sony, but atleast I don't have to care about which title comes out on what. I really think we are just going to see combo players and the whole format war will be irrelevant. What do you guys think about that?
Leonardo DiCrapio @ Jan 4th 2008 3:34PM
"The week ending 12.30.2007 numbers are also 61% BD VS. 39% HD-DVD
HMM is a week behind but the numbers were leaked last night.
61% BD VS. 39% HD-DVD for the past 3 weeks"
I don't think the Harry Potter 1-4 HD DVD's that I ordered on 12/27 from Amazon.com counted in the 12.30.2007 week ending numbers. Amazon shipped (via free Super Saver Shipping) my order on December 31st (and they probably charged my credit card on that day, too) and reported the numbers to Nielsen for the week ending 01/06/08.
I'd expect Blu-Ray to get a big boost from Amazon for the week ending 01/13/08 despite the fact that their Blu-Ray BOGO sale is going on this week. The Harry Potter movies look like they have sold out on Blu-Ray at Amazon now (titles available on Amazon's BOGO stand at 80, down from around 95).
You will see the Harry Potter movies up on the charts for HD DVD and Blu-Ray in successive weeks, just like the Mark Wahlberg movie Shooter ended up on the HD DVD charts about a month ago because it was one of the 3 free titles that Amazon was offering with the purchase of a HD DVD player.
Leonardo DiCrapio @ Jan 4th 2008 3:40PM
"You will see the Harry Potter movies up on the charts for HD DVD and Blu-Ray in successive weeks, just like the Mark Wahlberg movie Shooter ended up on the HD DVD charts about a month ago because it was one of the 3 free titles that Amazon was offering with the purchase of a HD DVD player."
Actually, Shooter was up on the list, I believe, but Top Gun was the number 4 HD DVD for the week ending December 2nd, which you can verify for yourself by looking at page 12 of the December 9th Home Media Magazine (link below). Amazon was running the promotion Thanksgiving week (which ended November 25th).
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/questex/hom120907/index.php
Greg @ Jan 4th 2008 3:43PM
Yep, it's been anounced at AVS, week ending 12/30 is also a win for Blu Ray, and that was in HD DVD 's strongest week (post TF) with a huge Amazon Bogo and two good day and date releases (The Kingdom and Eastern Promises).
1st week of January might just see this mythical 80+:20 someone spoke about, with day and dates favoring Blu Ray along with a big Amazon Bogo (still going on).
Also, if there is any HD DVD fanboy around, stop reading now.
Sources are starting to confirm (still need an official report, but hey, that's what the CES is here for no?) what a lot of people suspected, aka that Blu Ray standalone sales have started to outsell HD DVDs during the Xmas season following the Sony and Samsung price drop.
Cf Thedigitalbit.com
Geoff @ Jan 4th 2008 3:48PM
Not sure if its true but it sure looks that Warner has Gone Blu.
http://deadlinehollywooddaily.com/
goAMinD @ Jan 4th 2008 5:14PM
#Geoff
It really looks like yes. If that news release is valid, the obvious words really state that WB is ending HD-DVD releases May 2008 to support Blu-Ray (and DVD) exclusively. VERY interesting article indeed, since the words come directly from the chairman.