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.

Blu-ray Sales: Paddington Leads Parade of New Releases

May 27th, 2015

New releases took the top three spots on the Blu-ray sales chart, led by Paddington. The film sold 168,000 units and generated $3.35 million in sales. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 44%, which is amazing for a live action family film. More...

Contest: In Pursuit of Prizes: Winning Announcement

May 13th, 2015

The winners of our In Pursuit of Prizes contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for Hot Pursuit opening weekend were... More...

Contest: Age of Prizes 2: Electric Boogaloo: Winning Announcement

May 7th, 2015

The winners of our Age of Prizes 2: Electric Boogaloo contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for The Avengers: Age of Ultron opening weekend were... More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for May 5th, 2015

May 6th, 2015

While summer is the worst time of year for the home market, there are actually two big first-run releases coming out this week, plus a handful of TV on DVD releases that are worth checking out. The biggest release is 50 Shades of Grey, but while it made more than $500 million worldwide, its reviews are just bad. On the other hand, Selma, the second biggest new release of the week, is clearly the best new release of the week and the DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack is the Pick of the Week. More...

Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: The Barber

May 2nd, 2015

The Barber came out at the end of March and failed to find an audience in theaters. It was the wrong genre for limited release, but the reviews didn't help. Now that it is out on the home market, is it worth checking out? Were the critics unjustly harsh? More...

Contest: In Pursuit of Prizes

May 1st, 2015

Next week Hot Pursuit is the only film opening wide, so it is the only choice for the target film in this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Hot Pursuit.

Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of The Barber on Blu-ray. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win a Frankenprize consisting of a previously reviewed DVD or Blu-ray. Finally, we will be choosing an entrant from the group of people who haven't won, or haven't won recently, and they will also win a Frankenprize consisting of a previously reviewed DVD or Blu-ray. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

Contest: Age of Prize, Part I: Winning Announcement

April 29th, 2015

The winners of our Age of Prize, Part I contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for The Age of Adaline opening weekend were... More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for April 28th, 2015

April 28th, 2015

This is usually a terrible time of year on the home market with the dredges of January and February coming out and precious little else. However, this week is actually really strong with not only one of the best films of the year, Paddington, as well as a number of summer shows coming out on TV on DVD. Unfortunately, it is also a really shallow week and with the May monthly preview due on Friday, I'm not even going to pretend it's a deep week and I'm ignoring anything below second-tier releases. As far as Pick of the Week is concerned, there are really only two contenders. The first is the aforementioned Paddington DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack. The second is Mommy a Canadian movie coming out on DVD this week. Paddington is the Pick of the Week, but Mommy earns the rarely awarded Puck of the Week. More...