DVDs have gained popularity over the past few years. DVD players come in different forms, whether it is a DVD-ROM drive, a Playstation 2 or the traditional unit hooked up to the television.
According to cbsnews.com, home video sales, which include DVD sales, will reach $25 billion by year’s end accounting for 60 percent of Hollywood’s revenue. They also report DVD sales are the fastest growing part of the movie business.
Even Columbia House has a DVD Club. Just like its famed CD Club, customers can buy DVDs and have them shipped to their homes after signing up for the DVD Club’s introductory deal.
ISDS senior Todd Ullrich is a member of the DVD Club.
“I saw an ad on the Internet for 5 DVDs for 49 cents and it caught my eye,” Ullrich said. “I’m a big DVD collector, and I’d only have to buy three or four [from them] within the next two years.”
Ullrich said he has more than 80 DVDs and Columbia House helps expand his collection.
“The initial joining offer is really good, but after that they kind of charge high prices,” Ullrich said. “But they have some deals where you’re paying the same price as you would pay at Wal-Mart or Target.”
Andrea Hirsch, chief administrative officer and general council for Columbia House said the DVD Club, launched in 1997, will have $4 million members by the end of the year. Approximately 20 percent of its members are between 18 and 24.
Hirsch said the Columbia House Clubs have a history of attracting the newest entertainment formats for its members.
“Columbia House is driven to stay ahead of the curve,” Hirsch said, “… [and] this new format was perfect for our customers.”
Hirsch said the DVD club is growing rapidly where its membership could exceed the CD club’s membership.
“Columbia House’s DVD Club enrollment numbers provide a good indication where things are headed,” Hirsch said. “Over 75,000 members enroll in the DVD Club each week.”
LSU students also have kept with this growing trend.
D’Ann Wells, an English education senior, said she has owned a DVD player for more than three years but does not want to join the DVD Club after being a part of their CD club.
“I don’t know about the DVDs but I know about the CDs and they were over-priced,” Wells said. “I usually buy my DVDs from Best Buy and Blockbuster or places like that.”
General studies freshman Jeremy Springer said he would join the DVD club if he had extra money to spend.
“I haven’t really seen their prices,” Springer said. “But I have a friend who’s in the Columbia House and he seems to like it a lot.”
Some retail stores also show the rise in popularity DVDs have today.
Best Buy’s 2003 annual report said that in 2002, Best Buy’s total revenue was $19.2 billion. Of this revenue, 22 percent came from electronic software including DVDs, up five percent from 2001 sales and 10 percent from 2000 sales.
Kitt Shaw, a political science sophomore, said he first got interested in DVDs after his brother showed him a DVD.
“They’re more efficient,” Shaw said. “You get better picture quality. You don’t have to rewind, just skip right to the chapter.”
Shaw uses his Playstation 2 as a DVD player and eventually wants to own all of his VHS movies on DVD.
“I figured I might as well take advantage of my Playstation 2 since it’s a DVD player as well,” Shaw said.
Springer said he got his DVD player to keep up with technology.
“I got mine 6 or 7 months ago,” Springer said. “Everybody else had one, and I was probably the last person to get one out of the people I knew.”
Wells has other reasons why she likes movies on DVD rather than VHS.
“I’m an education major and we see as teachers that there’s a lot of information that’s useful just in the interviews with the actors and actresses,” Wells said. “Also there’s all the other extra stuff that you can get on the DVD that you can’t get on VHS.”
Much like how CDs made cassette tapes almost non-existent, these students believe the DVD will make VHS the “cassette tape” of home video.
“DVD seems to be phasing in,” Shaw said. “As time goes on, they won’t be producing VHS anymore.”