The Change Mariner

Action-Hungry DVD Fans Sway Hollywood

New York Times:

Home video sales accounted for more than 58 percent of Hollywood's income last year, more than twice as much as box-office revenues. Sales of DVD's to consumers are the biggest, most profitable and fastest-growing component of that revenue.

For studio executives, that means the home video market is no longer the afterthought it was when renting videotapes dominated the business. "It is becoming, in a lot of ways, the primary market in determining whether to green light a movie or not," said Chris McGuirk, vice chairman of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.