Friday, Jun 6, 2008    Text size: 

A survey bankrolled by Blockbuster Inc. indicated that consumers are planning to turn to their home entertainment centers to entertain themselves while saving money — and in overwhelming numbers.

Of those surveyed, 88 percent said they were planning to stay home more during the recession, and 87 percent said they were planning to use their home entertainment centers more.

Naturally, the much maligned Blockbuster found these numbers encouraging.

"Consumers cut back in tough economic times, but they still want to be entertained. In fact, maybe they need the distraction even more," said Blockbuster's Joyce Woodward, senior vice president, rental film, Blockbuster Inc. "Rent a movie, and for a couple hours you can relax and escape into a world without pressures like gas price hikes and rising grocery bills."

Other feel-good results from the survey include an indication from 79 percent of respondents that renting movies is good entertainment value.

"Renting a movie is a low-cost, high-entertainment-value option that many families turn to as a fun activity to do together," Woodward said.

That sounds great for the beleaguered rental chain, but what difference will it make to the adult industry?

An informal survey of adult industry rental and VOD companies suggested that Blockbuster's survey may be on target. Though not every company agreed to disclose their sales figures on the record, SugarDVD Content Manager Justin Brand told XBIZ his company is expecting an unusually brisk summer.

"We've been doing much better [business] in recent days," he said. "Gas prices are terribly high, movie tickets are insane — everything's skyrocketed except wages, and we're only expecting things to get better as people's stimulus check start coming in."

Brand was referring to President Bush's economic stimulus plan, which gave many taxpayers a bonus check based on their income level.

Blockbuster's survey also indicated that consumers would be trying to avoid such activities as eating out, shopping at malls, seeing movies in theaters, taking vacations, and attending concerts and plays. The survey didn't touch on whether consumers would be devoting more time to intimate activities.