By : Chris Tribbey | Posted: 04 Nov 2009
ctribbey@questex.com

A majority of consumers plan on spending the same amount on traditional entertainment this holiday season compared to 2008, according to The NPD Group.

Interviewing more than 10,000 consumers in August, NPD reports that 66% planned on spending the same amount or more on entertainment products and services in the coming year, though they indicated music downloads and movie tickets would be more popular that physical media.

“Although CDs have been facing challenges for years, our research shows that video games, home video and other categories will benefit from releases that consumers really want at prices they perceive as offering a good value,” said Russ Crupnick, senior entertainment industry analyst for NPD. “Consumer sentiment can shift quickly with the release of powerful titles like Halo or Transformers.”

NPD’s findings also saw an increase in consumers visiting social networking sites such as Facebook. Consumers also indicated a commitment to subscription services such as Netflix and cable.

“Only a tiny portion of consumers are going off the entertainment grid,” Crupnick said.
 

---