The home entertainment market continues to surge, fueled by streaming, and last year in the US home entertainment grew to almost eight times the size of the cinema market.
Home entertainment was already expanding rapidly, but the pandemic ignited a massive boost.
In 2017, home entertainment revenue was roughly double that of US box office. By 2021, as cinemas struggled, home entertainment had grown to 3.5 times the size of the cinema market. By 2023, the gap had expanded to a factor of five.
Home entertainment in 2025
The 2025 figures are in for the US. They show that home entertainment was nearly eight times larger than the cinema market, even though US cinemas grew by 5.8% from 2024 to 2025 to about $8 billion. This still represents a significant decline from $9 billion in 2023 and $11.9 billion in 2018, pre-pandemic.
- "Overall US consumer spending across digital and physical home entertainment formats in 2025 was $62.2 billion, a 17.4 percent increase from the almost $53 billion that consumers spent in 2024, driven by continued strong gains in subscription streaming with an assist from digital transactions early in the year," reported industry association DEG.
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Global figures are not yet available. The Theme report, which used to track global theatrical and home entertainment sales, has not been published consistently since the pandemic.
TV and YouTube not included
The home entertainment figures cover only DVD/Blu-ray, EST/VOD (digital purchases or rentals of movies) and subscription-based streaming services that offer movies, series and other entertainment, such as Netflix, HBO Max, Prime Video, Disney+ and more.
Antenna, cable and satellite TV packages are not included, nor is sports via streaming or video streaming on social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Streaming services from TV distributors are also excluded from the figures.
Explosive home entertainment growth
The numbers underscore a reality where home entertainment is skyrocketing, driven by streaming services, while the era of cinemas and physical discs has passed.
Sales and rentals of DVD, Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray fell another 9.3% in the US last year, although UHD Blu-ray returned to growth.
These trends are expected to continue as more viewers subscribe to multiple services, while streaming providers ramp up investments in content and raise prices.
The industry is also experimenting with entirely new content formats that cannot be screened in cinemas.
Home entertainment in the US in 2025
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