DVD and Blu-ray sales in Russia have nearly doubled since March

From March to September 2022, DVD and Blu-ray disc sales grew 2.2 times compared to 2021, said RBC with reference to the press service of the M.Video-Eldorado network. At Ozon, movie DVD and Blu-ray sales grew by 16% and music by 51% over the same period.

The press service of Ozon also reported that sales of DVD players grew by 40% in annual terms. In their opinion, the growth of interest in DVD and Blu-ray is associated with an increase in the offer on the marketplace – the number of DVD and Blu-ray players on the site has tripled, the range of discs has quadrupled. They also noted that “many Russians are accustomed to watching multimedia content without reference to network coverage, Internet speed and the availability of streaming services.”

M.Video-Eldorado did not give absolute figures for DVD and Blu-ray sales. The company believes that the growth of interest in these formats is associated with the departure of foreign streaming services from Russia due to the military operation in Ukraine. One of the reasons for the growth in sales there was also called the reduction of Russian streaming libraries due to the expiration of licenses for foreign content.

Against the background of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, the Megogo video service, as well as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video streaming, stopped working in Russia. Film studios Disney, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Paramount, Universal and others have refused to rent in Russia. In the summer, some old foreign films and series disappeared from Russian streaming services. Music labels also began to withdraw songs by foreign artists from Russian services.

More details – in the material “Kommersant” “Short playlist”.

Olesya Pavlenko