Digital copy use on the rise
Feature most popular with Blu-ray owners
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 3/27/2009
MARCH 27 | The percentage of consumers who use digital copies embedded in the physical discs they purchase is low but growing.
Average transfer rates, representing the proportion of DVD buyers who access a particular title’s embedded copy, range between 10% and 15%. That has slightly jumped from the average 5% to 13% at the end of 2008.
Other promotional offerings, such as coupons and rebate programs, are considered successful at less than 10% participation by consumers.
For digital copy, at 10%, “this is a robust take rate when you look at consumers across different promotional offerings,” said Dorinda Marticorena, senior VP of worldwide marketing and high-def at Warner Home Video. “Digital copy is something where consumers see real value. Even when we offer a free movie ticket in DVD packages, redemption north of 10% is considered a highly successful promotion.”
Warner continues to offer digital copy on both standard DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions of titles. But the studio has noticed that the feature is proving more popular with Blu-ray consumers. The Blu-ray version of The Dark Knight achieved 10% transfer rate on the first day of its Dec. 9 release and has since grown to 20%. Its two-disc standard DVD, which also held a copy, has achieved a 10% to 12% transfer rate to date.
Both 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment are moving toward attaching digital copy to Blu-ray only.
Fox is exclusively affixing it to Blu-ray sell-through versions of March and April titles Marley & Me, Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler and Bride Wars.
Starting with March 31 release Seven Pounds, Sony is putting digital copy solely on Blu-ray versions for several of its titles. This will be the case for May 12 release Underworld: Rise of the Lycans and May 19 release Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
Sony also is working to enhance the customer experience with digital copy by embedding more titles with files that are compatible for Mac and iPod products. Its first such compatible product, Jan. 6 release Pineapple Express, included access to a free download off of iTunes. But Sony will offer Mac/iPod compatible embedded copies starting with Seven Pounds and Rise of the Lycans.
It appears that consumers who do use digital copy say they prefer the relative speediness of transferring an embedded copy over downloading a Web-based copy.
As digital copy strategies continue to evolve, studios seem generally pleased with the feature’s attraction for consumers.
Rich Marty, VP of business development at Sony, said the volume of transferred copies “is exceeding our expectations.”
