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U.S. box office slump yanks down global average

The North American box office decreased by 2% last year to $11.1 billion, dragging down total global box office dollar growth, according to the Motion Picture Association of America's latest 2017 Theatrical and Home Entertainment Market Environment report.

Reproduced from MPAA Theme Report, 2017; Chart: Axios Visuals

Why it matters: The rise of streaming in the U.S. is eating at box revenue growth. In the U.S., home entertainment spending for content released digitally was up 20% from 2016 to 2017. U.S. physical home entertainment spending — on Blu Ray and DVD — continues to decline.

  • While global box office revenues grew by 5% year-over-year to $40 billion, those revenues were driven by international revenue growth, which increased 2% year-over-year to $29.5 billion.
  • A lot of that digital growth comes from subscription video on-demand services (SVOD), like Netflix. SVOD content spending was up 28% since 2016. The number of subscriptions to online video services in the U.S. increased by 21%, or $151 million, while subscriptions to every other type of Pay TV service (Cable, satellite, IPTV) declined.
Media trends