The Entertainment Industry & the Internet, 1-16-08
Revenues are mixed at traditional entertainment and media segments. Book sales at retail were about $55 billion in the U.S. in 2007, according to the Book Industry Study Group, an increase of about 3.3%. The traditional, storefront video rental sector is suffering due to alternatives including Netflix, TiVo and video-on-demand services. Newspapers are finding it increasingly difficult to compete against Internet news and advertising rivals. Recorded music sales on CD-ROM continue to drop while sales of digital music files are soaring. Traditional radio broadcasting is hurting, finding it increasingly difficult to gather listeners for advertising-based radio programming due to such alternatives as satellite radio and digital MP3 players. The burning issue affecting all sectors of the entertainment and media industry is maintaining control of content and audiences while taking advantage of myriad new electronic delivery venues. In this volatile market it is important to keep up with the various trends affecting the industry's development. According to a recent report by Plunkett Research, Ltd., some of the most important of these trends include:
1) Apple's iPod Revitalizes the Music Industry.
The sale of legal downloadable music via the Internet and Internet-enabled cell phones is finally gaining significant traction. This is due to several factors, including the growing clampdown on illegal downloads by court systems worldwide, the rising popularity of advanced features on cell phones, and the incredible popularity of Apple's iPod and the related iTunes music download site.
2) Netflix and Blockbuster Go Head to Head.
Netflix is catching on in a big way, with total membership exceeding 7 million as of late 2007. Its success has had a serious impact on rivals including Blockbuster. Blockbuster has responded with both an in-store subscription program and an online service, which it combined in an offering called Total Access. Although Blockbuster's sales have fallen in recent years (2006 sales were $5.5 billion, down from 2005's $5.7 billion), it posted a profit in 2006 for the first time since 2002 (2006 profits were $54.7 million).
3) Radio Via IP Grows/The Era of Digital Radio Begins.
Radio listenership over IP has grown to 29 million listeners per week, up from 20 million in 2004, according to Arbitron, Inc. and Edison Media Research. Peer-to-peer (P2P) web sites that operate in a radio-like manner (but are not part of traditional radio stations) are proliferating at a rapid rate as well.
To find out more about these exciting trends and others, check out Plunkett’s Entertainment and Media Industry Almanac 2008, or go to www.plunkettresearch.com and sign up for a subscription to Plunkett’s completely up-to-date online database!
About Plunkett Research, Ltd.
Plunkett Research, Ltd. is a leading publisher of complete business research and analysis resources designed to enable professionals in marketing, research and finance to access complete trends analysis, statistics, technology analysis and financial analysis of the world’s most exciting industries. For more information, visit www.plunkettresearch.com, or call 713.932.0000.