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.

DVD Sales: Lost in a Sea of New Releases

September 8th, 2010

Eight new releases reached the top 30 on this week's sales chart, including five TV on DVD releases. Leading the way was Lost: Season Six, which sold 339,000 units during its opening week and earned $12.88 million in consumer spending at retail. More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for August 24th, 2010

August 24th, 2010

There are not a lot of prime releases on this week's list. One release, or, to be more specific, the many releases of one TV show, Lost dominate. Unfortunately, the screeners for that show won't be sent till today, so I wasn't able to get a review complete in time for this week's preview article. Outside the four Lost releases, there's little that really grabs your attention, and while going down the list of best-sellers, it doesn't take long before you start running into second-tier and even third-tier releases. Lost: The Complete Collection is likely the best release on this week's list, but I'm going to wait until I get a chance to check out the screener before awarding it the Pick of the Week. More...

Agora Leads Crowded Field on Per Theater Chart

June 2nd, 2010

Agora opened on top of the per theater chart with an average of $16,631 in two theaters. This is enough to suggest that it has some potential to expand, but not enough to suggest that it will put a dent in its $70 million production budget. Solitary Man remained strong with an average of $14,047 in six theaters. It too should expand. The Cremaster Cycle made an appearance on the chart with $11,796 in one theater, while Micmacs was close behind with an average of $10,688 in four theaters. More...

Survival of the Limited Releases

May 28th, 2010

Just a trio of limited releases opening this week, but one of them, Micmacs, has potential. Granted, it's a foreign Language film and that will likely prevent it from become a truly mainstream success, but it still has potential. More...