Video Rentals Fall 9% In ‘95

The number of rental transactions in the home video industry plunged 8.7 percent in 1995, from 4.59 billion in 1994 to 4.19 billion last year, according to an annual study of the business by the New York research firm Alexander & Associates.

But according to Barbara McNamara, a manager at the company, the video industry is still thriving despite the drop in rental income. Video revenue increased more than 2 percent in 1995 over 1994.

The reason? Consumers purchased more videocassettes - 682.9 million in 1995, a 17.7 percent increase from 1994.

“(People) are buying tapes and watching them a couple of times rather than going to the video store (to rent something new),” McNamara said. “The dollars are still in the market.”

McNamara reports that, so far in 1996, the rental market is on an even pace with last year and even exceeded it during several weeks in March.