Q1 Spending on Subscription Streaming Jumped 20.7% to $3.59B, Says DEG

U.S. home entertainment content spending increased 6.4 percent in Q1 to $6.04 billion, reported the Digital Entertainment Group Tuesday, despite a tough comparison with a year earlier when the Easter holiday fell in March. Easter season is “traditionally a strong sales period,” it said. Subscription streaming was the engine that drove the truck in Q1, rising 20.7 percent to $3.59 billion, it said. Physical media sell-through dropped below the $1 billion mark, falling 22.4 percent to $822.3 million, though Ultra HD Blu-ray player penetration increased 63 percent to 14 million homes. DEG estimates 53.4 million homes in Q1 owned Ultra HD hardware products, a 55 percent increase.