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.

Blu-ray Sales: Harry Potter Powers It's Way to the Top

November 30th, 2011

The Harry Potter franchise held three of the top four spots on this week's Blu-ray sales chart with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 earning top spot with 1.29 million units / $28.83 million during its first full week of release for totals 3.40 million units / $76.27 million. More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for November 15th, 2011

November 16th, 2011

It's a really soft week for releases. Granted, Harry Potter came out last week and it is likely still going to be selling quite well this week. But the best release of Tuesday, at least according to Amazon.com, is Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides on DVD. Normally this would be a huge release, but it came out on Blu-ray weeks ago. The same is true of the second best selling release, The Lion King. The most of the next several best selling releases are Blu-ray catalog titles. Granted, many are worth picking up, but it could still be a really slow week in terms of overall sales. That doesn't mean it is a slow week in terms of high quality releases. West Side Story is coming out on Blu-ray, My Fair Lady is also making its Blu-ray debut. There are several more catalogue titles getting a Blu-ray double-dip, like Evil Dead II: 25th Anniversary Edition, or the latest Blu-ray for Metropolis. TV on DVD is well represented with Farscape: The Complete Series (Blu-ray), Being Human: Season One on Blu-ray, and Awkward: Season One. Beginners on Blu-ray is also a Contender for Pick of the Week, as is Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume One: Blu-ray Ultimate Collector's Edition. In the end I went with Evil Dead II: 25th Anniversary Edition. It is a double-dip, but there are major improvements over the previous release, plus it is a bargain price at just $11, and given the number of prime releases coming out this week, a bargain price is certainly welcome. More...