Money spent on movie downloads and video streaming subscriptions in the U.S. is set to exceed purchases and rentals of DVDs for the first time this year - based from a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
The firm said that electronic home revenue, which includes online streaming options such as those from Amazon, HBO, Netflix, and Hulu, will climb 13 percent to $9.5 billion this year, while physical sales will drop to $7.8 billion, according to Bloomberg. Furthermore, the report states that by 2017, electronic revenue will reach $12 billion, exceeding even the U.S. film box office.
PricewaterhouseCoopers see technological shifts in the way content is delivered will create winners and losers, in spite of an overall increase in spending for media and entertainment shows.
DVDs are still hanging on partly due to services such as Redbox and Netflix's disc option. However, the format may soon suffer the same fate as CDs, wherein music streaming outsold physical CD purchases last year, according to Engadget.
PricewaterhouseCoopers further states that music streaming will eventually overtake the still fairly new business of digital purchasing of songs by 2018. By said year, digital revenue will account for 45 percent of all spending on books.
The company predicts that global media and entertainment revenue will rise at a 5.1 percent annual rate through 2019.
