The biggest surprise of the year, however, has been Microsoft offering movie rentals and TV downloads to the Xbox 360 via its Xbox Live Internet service.
Though there are fewer than 3.5 million 360s in the U.S. by last count, movies available from Warner and Paramount, as well as content from CBS and MTV on the TV side, are doing at least as well and, in some cases, better than on competing Web sites, which are available to anyone with a PC and high-speed Internet connection.
Xbox 360 owners are a tech-savvy and media-hungry bunch, of course, but the relatively strong start for video downloads on the console show that there is a market when watching a download is as easy as pushing a few buttons.
HD has proved particularly popular with Xbox 360 owners, many of whom already use the console to play vidgames in high-def.
For Warner, the only studio offering HD versions of its movies, consumers are consistently downloading more copies of a pic in high-def than in standard def when both are offered, even though it takes several extra hours to get the HD version.
"If you look at our sales charts, movies like 'The Perfect Storm,' 'Unforgiven' and 'Swordfish' are all doing disproportionately better than you would expect, and the only explanation is that they're available in HD," said Ross Honey, senior director for media in Microsoft's content and partner strategy group.
