Nielsen: DVD/Blu-ray Disc Player Households Down Slightly

28 Jun, 2016 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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In an era of streaming media devices, smart televisions and tablets, dependence upon connected Blu-ray Disc players is diminishing — but only slightly.

The percentage of domestic households with a DVD/Blu-ray Disc player topped 77% in the first quarter (ended March 31), down 3% from the previous-year period, according to new from Nielsen. Households with smart TVs, multimedia devices and tablets increased to 23%, 24% and 58%, respectively.

While Nielsen heralded the fact that for the first time subscription-streaming video household penetration rivaled households with a digital video recorder at 50%, more people (93 million) per month used a DVD/Blu-ray Disc player than used a video game console (61 million) or streaming media device (60 million).

At the same time, households spent just one minute less per month in Q1 using a DVD/Blu-ray Disc player at 11 hours and 18 minutes, compared with 11 hours and 19 minutes in 2015. About 39% of households used a DVD/Blu-ray player monthly, compared with 46% in 2015.

Nielsen said more than 122 million people used a DVD/Blu-ray Disc player per month, down from more than 140 million in 2015. That compared to 93 million using a game console (99 million a year ago), and nearly 80 million using a streaming media device (vs. 53 million).

Paradoxically, the average time spent per adult with a DVD/BD player per day, based on the total U.S. population, was eight minutes. That contrasted with 14 minutes with a game console and 13 minutes with a streaming media device. In fact, streaming media device usage increased 44% year-over-year, while game console use was flat and DVD/BD player usage dropped 11%.

People watching video on a computer fell from 138.5 million to 124 million, while increasing to 151 million watching video on a smartphone (128 million).

Live and recorded TV dominated users’ time at 148 hours and 19 minutes per month, which was down from 151 hours and 33 minutes a year ago. Notable gainers included streaming video on smartphones at 2 hours 31 minutes (1 hour 54 minutes in 2015) and app use on smartphones at 59 hours 40 minutes (up from 44 hours 32 minutes a year earlier).

Monthly video game console use increased to 28 hours 19 minutes, from 26 hours 42 minutes, while streaming media device use increased to 26 hours 19 minutes, from 25 hours 11 minutes.

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