US consumers spent $15.7 billion on movies and television shows in the first half of 2021

By Emmanuel Legrand 

US consumers spent $15.7 billion on movies and television shows consumed at home and on the go in the first six months of 2021, up 5% from the $14.9bn consumers spent in the first six months of 2020, according to latest figures published by the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) in its Mid-Year 2021 Report.  

  Second quarter growth year-over-year was 1%, for a total of $7.9bn. The performance in the first half of 2021 is significant since it is an improvement over what DEG described as "a record-breaking period for home viewing as consumers limited out-of-home activity in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus."

  However, the results could have been even better but "factors limiting 2021 growth" included a dearth of theatrical new releases, which are "historically a key driver of home entertainment spending." Box-office performance for the films released during the period was down nearly 88%.

Few new releases made their way to market 

  "Due to theater closures during the Covid-19 pandemic, few new releases made their way to market in the first half of the year, and those that did were often released initially for rental or sale in a premium window, the spending on which was not reported by any major studio in the first six months of 2021," reads the report.

  DEG identified the following trends during the first half of 2021:

  • Consumer spending on subscription streaming rose by 21% to $12.2bn in in the first six months of 2021, fuelled  according to DEG, by "consumer interest in multiple major services launched in the past 18 months" and the availability of new titles made immediately available on streaming services simultaneous with, or in place of, a theatrical release. 

  • The top titles rented and purchased by consumers in the second quarter 2021 "demonstrated viewers’ appetite for a variety of content." 

  • Spending on library titles has been "notably strong" during the period, due to a lack of new releases. DEG noted that since second quarter 2019, digital catalogue sales have increased at an annualised rate of 17%, compared, for example, from a 4% growth in fourth quarter 2019, just before the pandemic.

  • Consumers spent more than $2bn on Electronic Sell-through (EST) and VoD transactions in the full first-half of 2021.

Strong engagement with content

  "When compared against the comparable pre-pandemic period in 2019, however, total US home entertainment spending in 2021 shows growth of more than 35% for the second quarter and 32% for the first half, demonstrating consumers’ continued strong engagement with content. Internet-delivered video-on-demand (VoD) rentals grew 24 percent in the first half of 2021, compared to the same period in 2019," reads the report.