U.S. consumer spending on home entertainment content jumped...

U.S. consumer spending on home entertainment content jumped 0.7 percent in 2013 to $18.2 billion, said the Digital Entertainment Group Tuesday in its annual year-end report. Highlights of the report included a 47.2 percent increase in electronic sell-through to $1.2 billion, marking the first time that category surpassed the $1 billion mark, the DEG said. Other forms of digital delivery also fared well, the DEG said. Spending on subscription streaming jumped 32.1 percent to $3.2 billion, while VOD rose 4.8 percent to $2.1 billion, it said. However, sell-through of packaged media fell 8.1 percent to $7.8 billion, and rental spending in all forms declined 5.2 percent to $6.1 billion, it said. Other highlights: (1) Blu-ray software spending “remained consistent,” rising about 5 percent, the DEG said, without disclosing a specific dollar volume. (2) Total Blu-ray U.S. homes exceed 72 million, including those that own at least one stand-alone Blu-ray player, PS3 or Blu-ray-equipped home theater in a box. (3) There are now more than 15 million UltraViolet accounts, and “most major retailers support UltraViolet,” the DEG said. (4) “Strong consumer interest” in Ultra HD “bodes well for the home entertainment industry,” the report said.