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.

DVD Sales: Secret of the Tomb Stuck with the Leftovers

March 29th, 2015

Despite there being five new releases on this week's DVD sales chart, there was a holdover hanging onto top spot. Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 sold 472,000 units and generated $6.36 million in sales during its first full week of release for early totals of 1.19 million units / $16.28 million. More...

DVD Sales: Mockingjay Leaves DVD Sales a Little Hungry

March 22nd, 2015

There was a flood of new releases on this week's DVD sales chart, including five of the top six best-sellers for the week. Leading the way was Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 with 718,000 units / $9.98 million. This is well below what Catching Fire opened with, but still enough to keep the studio happy. More...

Blu-ray Sales: Hunger Games Fills Up on Blu-ray

March 22nd, 2015

Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 led the new releases earning first place on the Blu-ray Sales Chart. It wasn't quite as strong as last week's winner, Big Hero 6; however, it did sell better than Catching Fire did. The Blu-ray sold 1.39 million units / $27.92 million, which is even more impressive when you note it was on sale for only two days, not the usual five days for a new release. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 66%, which is great no matter what its genre was. More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for March 3rd, 2015

March 3rd, 2015

This is not a great week for new releases on the home market. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 is by far the biggest new title and its DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack is going to sell a ton of units. However, its reviews are not up to the level required to make it our Pick of the Week. Conversely, Foxcatcher is award-worthy, but the DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack doesn't have enough extras to be a Pick of the Week. It seemed like every choice for Pick of the Week wasn't quite up to the level needed, so I'm going to go outside the box and pick To Write Love On Her Arms on DVD, which is a film I've been waiting to see for about three years. More...