DEG Releases Q1 2024 Digital Media Entertainment Report

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DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group announced it released its first quarter 2024 Digital Media Entertainment Report for the United States.

For more information visit: www.degonline.org

Unedited press release follows:

DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group today released its First Quarter 2024 Digital Media Entertainment Report compiled by DEG members, tracking sources and retail input.1

Consumer Spending on Home Entertainment Closed In on $12 Billion in 2024 First Quarter
Gain Driven by 21% Increase in Subscription Streaming, With an Assist From Digital Movie Transactions

Consumers spent $11.9 billion on movies and television shows consumed at home and on the go in the first quarter of 2024. Spending rose more than 18 percent from the $10 billion consumers spent in the first three months of 2023, a growth achieved largely by subscription streaming, with an assist from digital sales and rentals of theatrical new releases.

Among the trends for the First Quarter 2024:

  • The 2024 increase was fueled by a 21.2 percent increase in subscription streaming2, which rose to $10.6 billion, from $8.8 billion in the first quarter of 2023, as targeted and general entertainment services continued to add subscribers with new content, pricing options and ad-supported tiers, while also raising prices. First quarter 2024 growth was near 2023’s pace, when streaming spending grew 23 percent in the first quarter and for the full year.
  • Spending on digital transactions grew slightly in the first quarter, led by digital rentals (VOD3), which grew 3.6 percent, to $460 million. Consumer spending on digital purchases (EST3) was even with the year earlier period, at $564 million. The EST and VOD spending figures each reflect growth in theatrical titles and a decline in transactions in the TV genre. Theatrical title EST rose 7.1 percent, to $380 million, with Internet-delivered theatrical VOD rising 8.8 percent, to $379 million. Transactional spending in the TV category, meanwhile, fell about 18 percent on both EST and VOD, at least partly reflecting the absence of new episodes of Yellowstone. The series has been on hiatus since early 2023.
  • Premium releases enjoy strong consumer interest and spending in this window is included in DEG tracking3.
  • Among the first quarter’s best-performing new titles across transactional formats were Anyone But You (Sony); Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (WBD); The Beekeeper (MGM); Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount); The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Lionsgate); Iron Claw (A24); The Marvels (Disney); Mean Girls (Paramount); Migration (Universal); Trolls Band Together (Universal); and Wonka (WBD). 2023 releases that continued to perform strongly in the first quarter included Barbie (WBD); Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Disney); Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Disney); John Wick Chapter 4 (Lionsgate); Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 (Paramount); Oppenheimer (Universal); and TMNT: Mutant Mayhem (Paramount).
    • Following Netflix’s 2023 exit from the physical subscription business, DEG reports no longer include spending on physical disc rental. Disc sales continue a steady decline, falling slightly more than 15 percent in the first quarter of 2024, primarily due to lower demand for DVDs.
  • The premium 4K UHD Blu-ray format, which continues to appeal to collectors, grew 15.9 percent in the quarter, its third consecutive quarter of growth. A-list catalog titles – including James Cameron’s The Abyss, Aliens, and True Lies, released by Disney in March – fed the trend.
  • Ad-supported premium AVOD and FAST content reached an estimated advertising revenue of almost $5 billion in the first quarter of 2024, according to estimates from Omdia4, as more major streamers diversified their offerings to include lower cost subscription plans with ads. Omdia estimates show ad revenue grew by more than 27 percent in the quarter compared to Q1 2023. This represents a ten-fold increase over first quarter 2023 growth, when the increase was 2.7 percent.

1.Please note, these numbers are preliminary. Contact DEG for updates. 2 SVOD data sourced from Omdia.
3.Digital transaction spending (EST and VOD) includes premium releases.
4.Premium ad-supported video data sourced from Omdia.
-Represents revenue from AVOD (ad-supported video on demand) and FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) services specializing in premium, typically long-form, content.
-Includes Discovery+, Disney+, Freevee, HBO Max, Hulu, LG Channels, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock, Pluto TV, Roku Channel, Samsung TV+, Tubi, Vix, Vizio WatchFree+, as well as legacy TV Everywhere services and other premium AVOD/FAST.
-All figures are net advertising revenues. They denote the revenue generated by a media owner from advertising.
-Excludes social video services such as YouTube or TikTok.
-For hybrid services, such as Hulu, the data represents only the advertising revenue and does not include subscription revenue generated by the hybrid tier.
-Data represents the U.S. only and is preliminary.

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