U.S. consumers spent $15.1 billion across digital and physical home entertainment formats in the first six months of 2020.
The Digital Entertainment Group shared preliminary figures from its new Mid-Year 2020 Digital Media Entertainment Report and said spending was up 26% increase from the $12 billion consumers spent in the same period a year earlier.
Consumers spent more than $1.5 billion on digital entertainment transactions through electronic sellthrough (EST) and video on demand (VOD) in the second quarter of 2020, an increase of 54% over the same period a year earlier.
“Stay-at-home orders rolled out across the U.S. beginning near the end of the first quarter, fueling digital entertainment demand among consumers that remained strong throughout the first half,” wrote DEG. For the full first half, consumer spending on digital entertainment transactions reached almost $3 billion, up 34%.
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DEG said spending increased 57% on EST and 50% on VOD, but the VOD growth statistics don’t account for premium VOD. Several studios experimented with earlier digital sales for theatrical releases while the pandemic caused movie theaters to shut down.
DEG said consumer demand for theatrical releases continued to grow across digital formats and that spending on theatrical EST rose 48% in the second quarter and 26% in the first half. Spending on theatrical VOD, meanwhile was up 73% for the second quarter and 55% for the first half.
The firm’s research also suggested that TV services saw spending rise 120% on VOD and 72% on EST in the second quarter and that internet-delivered VOD grew 76% in the second quarter and 56% in the first half.