In a bright spot for packaged media, Blu-ray sales drove a 5% increase in home entertainment spending in Q3, the first increase since Q1 2008 three and a half long years ago, according to a report by the Digital Entertainment Group. 

Blu-ray sales were up 58% over the year ago period in the quarter, while EST (electronic sell-through) revenues were up a less robust 13%.  One big factor generating Blu-ray increases is the growth in the number of Blu-ray homes, which grew 52% from the year ago period to 33.5 million. And it doesn’t hurt that there’s key catalogue material hitting the market in Blu-ray (see “$84 Million in ‘Star Wars’ BDs”).