I know Bill already posted about the DVD sales for the week ending August 30, but I thought there was a lot more to say about the weekly sales for the week ending August 30 (chart again included below).
First, though Smallville sold fewer units than House, Smallville was the #1 TV show in dollar sales for the week with almost$6.7 million. An impressive feat for a show on the CW. Smallville’s almost 183,000 units and $6.7 million were down from last year’s seventh season debut on DVD which sold more than 212,000 units and made over $8 million in its first week. It’s not quite apples-to-apples because last year Smallville debuted on September 9, and this year it came out on August 25.
Meanwhile House’s season five debut on DVD with over 223,000 units and over $6 million and sales was up over last year’s season four’s first week sales when it sold over 167,000 units and made $5.5 million. Also not quite apples-to-apples, since last year House was released a week earlier. But if there was any positive impact for House in terms of the marathons on USA Network, it falls into the category of “Pssh, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
The real “wow” for me was with NCIS, which was released during the same week this year as it was last year. First week sales of the sixth season of NCIS beat first week sales of season five by more than 100%, both in unit sales (126,506 units this year vs. 54, 991 last year) and revenue ($4.49 million vs. $2.11 million).
It’s hard (ok, impossible) for us to quantify exactly what impact the heavy rotation of NCIS on USA Network played in the increases. And I should probably note that outside of some special episodes (the backdoor pilot for NCIS: Los Angeles), none of the season six episodes have begun airing on USA Network yet.
Indeed, viewing of NCIS’s sixth season on CBS was up over season five to record levels for the series, though nowhere close to 100%. It’s reasonable to conclude that the heavy rotation on USA hasn’t hurt DVD sales, and has probably only helped. Either way, 100% increases for first week sales year over year is impressive.
NCIS’ first week sales this year were greater than its first two week’s sales last year (82,751 units, $3.2 million in sales).
US TV Show DVD Sales for Week Ending August 30, 2009:
| Title | Units this Week | % Change | Total Units | Sales this Week | Total Sales | Weeks in Release |
| House, M.D. – Season Five | 223,351 | 223,351 | $6,028,243 | $6,028,243 | 1 | |
| Smallville: The Complete Eighth Season | 182,894 | 182,894 | $6,673,802 | $6,673,802 | 1 | |
| NCIS: The Complete Sixth Season | 126,506 | 126,506 | $4,489,698 | $4,489,698 | 1 | |
| One Tree Hill: The Complete Sixth Season | 109,027 | 109,027 | $3,923,882 | $3,923,882 | 1 | |
| Scrubs: The Complete Eighth Season | 97,130 | 97,130 | $2,524,409 | $2,524,409 | 1 | |
| Dexter – The Complete Third Season | 94,278 | -68.30% | 391,858 | $2,713,321 | $8,789,904 | 2 |
| WWE: The Rise and Fall of WCW | 77,615 | 77,615 | $1,823,176 | $1,823,176 | 1 | |
| The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season | 53,902 | -67.70% | 220,690 | $1,724,325 | $7,059,873 | 2 |
| True Blood: The Complete First Season | 49,217 | 28% | 1,422,232 | $1,722,103 | $49,552,792 | 15 |
| Sons of Anarchy – Season One | 44,304 | -50.90% | 134,539 | $1,417,285 | $4,303,903 | 2 |
| Gossip Girl: The Complete Second Series | 38,451 | -63.10% | 142,740 | $1,441,528 | $5,225,133 | 2 |
impressive indeed
i still don’t see the appeal to NCIS
Started watching NCIS first year because of David McCallum (yes, I’m that old). To me the show is about the relationships among the team members rather than the “mysteries” that they solve. That is why I like the show. My twenty-six year old daughter likes it for that reason too. It is all about the family-like atmosphere, dysfunctional though it sometimes is. That is why I am wary of the LA spin-off. Will it have a similar feel?
Do you watch House because of the medical mysteries or do you watch it for the unique interaction of the differing personalities? House and NCIS are similar kinds of shows really. Just different genres. And yes, I bought both sets even though I record both as the seasons go along.
The appeal of ncis is that it’s just a show trying to be fun the old fashioned way with quirky, likable (maybe not to you but to some people) characters and plots that don’t rely heavily on either techno or legal jargon.
The csi and law and order franchises are grim and depressing. ncis is more a throwback to how tv used to be in the 60s, 70s and 80s but with a modern polish.
I am not a huge ncis fan, I’m more just a casual viewer of it who sometimes likes it, sometimes doesn’t, but has always appreciated the production values and the fact that it’s doing something different than most procedurals of our era.
As to the article above – yeah I started hearing more aquaintances talking about “Catching up” on ncis via dvd either through buying them or renting after it started being heavily aired on usa. So I totally believe that had an effect.
I’ve watched every episode of NCIS and the characters and their relationships are one of best on TV right now. The crimes are kind of derivative and not so focused on the military as JAG did, but that’s no really the point of the show. No one really watches House for the medical stuff. We watch House for House.
Wow. Now I see why the writers & actors want a chunk out of DVD sales.
I caught a couple episodes of NCIS on the USA channel recently. It was the first time I’d ever seen the show and I found it entertaining. So to answer to your question: yes, the USA eps made me more interested in NCIS DVDs but not the sixth season set that’s on the chart. New viewers like myself are probably interested in the first season.
Also, is it really fair to compare DVDs sets this year with those from the year before? The NCIS sixth season set has 6 DVDs. The fifth season set only had 5 discs because it was a strike-shortened season. Both sets seem to be offered on Amazon for the same price, so maybe the newer one just seems like a better deal. (BTW, NCIS is the only show on that list where the newest season is offered at the same price as the older seasons on Amazon.)
Rose, that’s a reasonable question! it depends on what the MSRP was last year vs. this year. If they were similarly priced despite fewer episodes (so that season 6 looks like a bargain) it could have influenced season 6 sales. I’d have to go back and look at S4 sales too. But if the $/episode costs were relatively the same (similar price/value) this year vs. last I think it’s fair to compare the unit sales, but probably not fair to compare the dollar sales.
Can’t anyone find supernatural dvd sales figures? I couldn’t find them anywhere.
Samuel, the information at the-numbers.com has the Supernatural 4th season DVD being released the week of September 1, which means those first week sales would be captured in next week’s DVD sales post.
I think one of the reasons for the strong DVD sales of NCIS are the extras that are on it. They are very entertaining and I think the fans love them.
Ok, thanks Bill!
Not impressed about Smallville. Last season was excellent and I hope it gets even better.
Smallville used to debut in the last couple of years with 200,000-250,000 copies. Not to mention the early seasons who reportedly sold around 1 million copies.