Digital copy in demand with consumers

90% want ability to backup discs on computer

By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 4/6/2009

APRIL 6 | The economy is affecting more than just consumer buying habits when it comes to DVD: The vast majority of consumers expect digital copy as a standard DVD option, according to a new report out today from the National Consumers League.

Roughly 90% of consumers surveyed said they want the ability to save movies they buy on DVD to their computer, the same way they do with music on CDs.

Opinion Research Group conducted the survey about DVD expectations, which was taken in March 11-16 with 1,000 consumers ages 18 to 64.

Consumers have already changed their buying habits due to the economic downturn. More than half of those surveyed, 55%, said they purchased fewer DVDs last year, and over the next year, 41% expect to buy even fewer DVDs. Nearly the same number, 40%, said the ability to backup DVDs might convince them to buy more discs and would make their collections more valuable.

Although consumers overwhelmingly said they want the ability to make a backup, few have done so. Most, 82%, said they had never saved a copy of a movie to their hard drive. About 4% said they tried and failed to make a backup.

About half of those surveyed said they don’t like that they can’t make a backup of DVDs they own without breaking encryption. But among respondents between ages 25 and 34, 92% though they should have the right to make a backup.

“Clearly, advances in technology have left consumers expecting a great deal of freedom when it comes to movies that they’ve purchased,” NCL executive director Sally Greenberg said in a statement about the report. “Consumers’ attitudes towards saving content have been shaped by their ability to freely copy the contents of their CD collections to their computers and iPods. Our survey shows that they are eager to have that same ability with their DVDs and are frustrated that the market has not adapted to meet that desire.”

Of those surveyed, 35% own more than 50 DVDs. The average household reported owning 78 DVDs.

They’re not just watching them on the TV:

• 69% watch DVDs on a computer, though among households with children, that jumps to 74%;

• 31% watch with a portable or in-car DVD player, 40% among those with children;

• 38% say they’ve had to repurchase a DVD because it was lost or damaged.

Still, in general, consumers are happy with their DVD purchases—89% said they were satisfied with the value of DVDs, even without digital copy.