DVD Surges, VHS Rentals Sag In U.S.

19-Jul-01

Sales of DVD movies in the U.S. have skyrocketed, but at least partially at the expense of the video rental business, Variety reports. The report said DVD rentals have shot up 174% in the past year, but during the period from January to June of this year, video rentals have slipped from $4.22 billion to $4.1 billion -- a drop of 3%. Although the U.S. video rental industry registered 1.35 billion rentals (more than double the number of movie theatre tickets sold), there has been a 7% drop in video rentals -- 98 million fewer rentals, Variety said. The plunge in rentals is being blamed on the roaring success of DVDs. Although sales of VHS copies of movies has held steady, between 40 and 50 million more DVDs have been sold this year compared to 2000, the report said.

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