DVD Sales - 6/2/02 (Harry Potter) (1 Viewer)

[Alex Spindler]

This is outstanding. The widescreen kicked the P&S once, then p a n n e d to the right and kicked them there too. And on the ultimate 'family film', no less.

 

[Rob T]

The Wal-mart here had a huge display of P&s in the front, a little display of widescreen in the electronics department and a few p&s discs on the shelves in the electronics department. :frowning:

 

[Jeff Kleist]

All I can say is


Bwahahahahahhahaahaahahahahahah

We will still win the day!

 

[William Ward]

WOW!!!!!!!

 

[Dave Vaughn]

While i was in line at Sams Club, I spoke to 5 different people about their copies of Harry Potter and that they didn't have the Widescreen Version. 2 were surprised and went back to the display and got the Widescreen Version instead of the P & S. The other 3 didn't know the difference but always wondered why some movies had the "black bars" and others didn't. After a quick explanation of OAR, the other 3 people went and got the WS versions Just doing my part!!!

 

[Duane Robinson]

I went to Best Buy yesterday to buy Memento Limited Edition and HP and when I got to the register the cashier told me that the pan and scan version was cheaper. I told her I'd pass and got the widescreen version that I had picked out. It seems pretty funny that even when the P&S version is cheaper that the widescreen version still outsells it. Maybe the studios need to remove their heads from their rectums and put their pride aside and admit that the public wants widescreen instead of believing they know what the public wants more than themselves.

 

[Randy A Salas]

Well, the news isn't so good, according to Soundscan. Its first chart that includes Harry Potter just came out, and it's a different story:

Top DVD Sales
(Compiled from a national sample of sales reports)
1. ``Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone (Pan & Scan),'' Warner Home Video.
2. ``Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone (Widescreen),'' Warner Home Video.
3. ``Vanilla Sky,'' Paramount Home Entertainment.
4. ``The Others,'' Dimension Home Video.
5. ``Ocean's Eleven (Widescreen),'' Warner Home Video.
6. ``How High,'' Universal Studios Home Video.
7. ``Snow Dogs,'' Walt Disney Home Video.
8. ``Ocean's Eleven (Full-Frame),'' Warner Home Video.
9. ``Behind Enemy Lines,'' FoxVideo.
10. ``State Property,'' Lions Gate Home Entertainment.
Copyright 2002, VNU Nielsen Soundscan, Inc.

 

[Brian Kidd]

Let's face it, numbers can always be manipulated to give you whatever outcome you desire. The good news is that widescreen is still selling very well. As long as it continues to sell, the studios will continue to produce them.
I hope.

 

[David Lambert]

And let us face the REAL bottom-line about these bestseller charts:

They are "outsider" data, culled from multiple sources in order to get an outsider's picture of what sales are like comparing titles from amongst multiple business entities (say, Sony to Warner to MGM to Paramount).

When it comes to comparing how two INTERcompany product SKUs did, the fact is that no business entity, and certainly not Warner, will look at those charts.

The will get their data processing people (which is my profession, incidentally) to mine the data in their databases. They will use SQL and other coding schemes to pull up the raw numbers for any two UPC codes they sell, and compare them *definatively*.

And we will never see those numbers.


So we on the outside will never truly know if WS Harry Potter outsold FS Harry. It seems unlikely, with all the FS-heavy displays that were reported here on HTF. If, somehow, despite all the loading of the dice that was done, that the WS SKU somehow managed to outsell the FS SKU, we will never, EVER know it unless Warner decides to leak that info.

Sorry, but that's just the plain old truth. These bestseller lists don't mean nothing to let us know which version of HP *REALLY* outsold which; they're used for "entertainment news purposes only". Only WB knows for sure...and they ain't talking!

 

[Don]

i got mine from Wal-Mart after they Matched Comp-USA Price what a bargain

 

[John Berggren]

I would love to see solid numbers on this. I wonder why the lists differ.

I have to beleive that the P&S sales would be added to the WS totals if the PS version wasn't available.

 

[Randy A Salas]

So we on the outside will never truly know if WS Harry Potter outsold FS Harry.

Thanks, Dave. That's exactly what I've been trying to point out every time someone uses these charts as *proof* of sales. They are an indication--nothing more--and flawed for the reasons you pointed out.

 

[Simon Massey]

Get this for figures

In the UK Harry Potter widescreen sales stand at 761,309 copies in the first week!! The Pan n Scan version sold only 26, 757.

This was the first time both Pan N Scan and widescreen versions of the same film have been released in the UK, (I think) presumably testing the market.

 

[John Berggren]

Oh to live in London...

 

[Randy A Salas]

In the UK Harry Potter widescreen sales stand at 761,309 copies in the first week!! The Pan n Scan version sold only 26, 757.

Simon, could you please point me to a source for these figures? Thanks.

 

[SteveK]

If those figures are accurate (that's only about a 28:1 ratio of sales), I guess Warner needs to revise their P&S only justifications. "Families prefer fullscreen...except for British families." Yeah, right.

Hopefully the day will come when sales figures like that are typical for the US as well. Then we may see a quiet end to the P&S releases, or at least the P&S only releases.

Steve K.

 

[Simon Massey]

Simon, could you please point me to a source for these figures? Thanks

http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/news/news.asp?Section=3
When I used to work at Whsmith and HMV, I remember there was a trade magazine, in the UK, issued to retailers which quotes DVD sales figures, so I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of these figures.

 

[Randy A Salas]

That's perfect. Thanks, Simon.