The DVD is beginning to go through the downward slide its cousin the CD has seen for many years. The Wrap has some consumer sales data from Digital Entertainment Group: Consumer spending on home video entertainment slid 10.0% from 2004 to 2008, and DVD sales dropped 10.4% during that time span. The Wrap mentions some of the recent DVD problems for movie studios: Time Warner's DVD sales were down 24%, Fox Filmed Entertainment DVD sales dropped 14% and Disney's DVD sales plummeted 33%.

The economy is getting some blame, but pricing strategies and the emergence of high-definition discs are being singled out as well. The new format gets the higher price while prices for traditional DVD have dropped. Said one former executive, "That’s a misreading of consumer behavior as well as a misreading of the economic environment. It’s devalued the libraries. If you can buy ‘Titanic’ for $4.99” versus $19.99 for a new, but lesser, movie on Blu-ray, consumers will say, ‘Well, wait a minute…'"

Perhaps the format itself is not doomed just yet. Netflix reported a 45-percent increase in Q4 profit and 26% more subscribers than at the end of Q4 2007.