DVD watching up as Hollywood strike continues

21 January 2008 11:47 GMT / By Katie Scott

It seems that the continuing writers' strike in Hollywood is driving TV fans to buying DVDs and video games.

According to a survey by the consultancy company Interpret, people are turning to movies and games while TV programming is affected by the stand-off between studios and their writers.

The survey found, in particular, that viewing figures for sitcoms and dramas have been hit.

Interpret reports that 27% of its respondents are spending less time watching network series and 12% are watching less cable and satellite series.

But 43% of respondents said they are spending more time watching movies on DVDs while 23% said they're watching more TV-DVDs. A further 26% said that they are spending more time playing video games.

Interpret CEO Michael Dowling told Reuters: "The strike makes scripted programming more valuable than ever. As top shows disappear from primetime, viewers may go back and view critically lauded TV series they missed the first time around, play more video games or watch more movies on DVD".

The survey was conducted online between 11-12 January and used a representative sample of Americans aged between 18-49.

The survey also found that 94% of US citizenss are aware of the writers' strike and around one-third have changed their media consumption habits as a result.

Full tags

Home Cinema, Gaming, DVD, Hollywood Strike