DVD sales plunged 20% in the US in the first quarter of 2011, with Hollywood studios blaming the timing of Easter and a glut of blockbuster releases in the same period last year for the $500m (£303m) year-on-year revenue slump.

The sale of DVDs and Blu-ray discs fell from $2.58bn to just more than $2bn in the first three months of the year, according to a report by industry body the Digital Entertainment Group. The DEG study also found rentals of DVDs through outlets such as Blockbuster plunged 36% year on year to $440m.

However, consumer spending on streaming and subscription services such as Netflix rose 33% to $695m.

O - I see - the massive drop has nothing to do with the fact that there seem to be very few good films out there worth buying on DVD ?

Me too - and as for buying a blu-ray DVD

I buy BR but only for a few select films eg Tron Legacy. Otherwise I'll stick to DVD and only pay ticket price if I really want it there and then. Otherwise I'm happy to wait until it's bargain bin price.

It's pretty much the same as the music industry - a severe lack of quality and people who got out of the habit as a result of that lack of quality

It might be a driver of piracy? Why buy or rent a crappy film or music?

I don't know how many films I've seen recently where the concept and the talent on both sides of the camera was there, but the script sucked balls, or the ending (or half the film) appears to have been adjusted by the studio. Possibly on the whims of a few vocal 'tards from a focus group who were never really gonna 'get' the film anyway

Give it two months after release, you'll be able to get them at least a third off