Responding to industry fear that the financial crisis will not be kind to Blu-ray sales, the Digital Entertainment Group announced a $25 million TV and cinema ad campaign aimed at spreading consumer awareness of Blu-ray for home entertainment.

The first ad in the 'Tru Blu' campaign, which includes 30-second spots showcasing Blu-ray's superior picture and sound qualities and the range of available titles, aired earlier this month during Fox's NFL broadcast. The ads feature some of the summer's biggest hits – including The Dark Knight, Hancock and Wall-E – together with the promise that "all the movies you want will be on Blu-ray high definition . . . The best way to watch movies at home, ever."

Some figures indicate that US consumers are projected to buy nearly 2.4 million standalone BD players this year, three times the number sold in 2007, bringing the installed base to more than 8 million. Other reports estimate that consumer spending on Blu-ray Discs was up 319.2% in the first nine months of 2008, to $315 million - more than the total spend for all of 2007.

Most Hollywood studio chiefs had confidently suggested that Blu-ray disc sales was going to be a $1 billion business by the end of the year. But this was before the crisis…

To adjust the clock to the new market realities, the Digital Entertainment Group brought back some studio movers and shakers around a table last week in Los Angeles. Warner Home Video president Ron Sanders predicting $650 million to $800 million in Blu-ray sales while Sony Pictures Home Entertainment president David Bishop, put less conservative estimates at $750 million to $850 million.

Back in June when the initial Blu-ray forecasts hit the streets, Paramount Home Entertainment president Kelley Avery went against the accepted wisdom and estimated a $750 million end-of-year market – the new industry consensus. As per Sanders, year-to-date industry BD sales have already passed the $500-million mark.

Overall consumer spending on home entertainment is expected to decline 3% to 4% this year, DEG executive director Amy Jo Smith said, driven by a projected 6% drop in DVD sales. Blu-ray’s growth rate in 2008 will be double that of 2007. She forecast that Blu-ray will account for 18% to 20% of unit sales of big new releases by the end of the year.

Bishop and Sanders pointed to the end of 2010, when asked when Blu-ray sales will offset DVD declines. For Lionsgate president and co-CEO Steve Beeks the industry would turn around by late 2009.

Story filed 17.11.08