BUGS VS. MICKEY FOR VIDEO CROWN.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

One thing is for certain: both Disney and Warner Bros. dominated the home video field in 2003. What isn't so certain is which studio is No. 1.

Both studios released their final revenue figures on Monday with each confidently ranking themselves as top video dog while relegating their archrival to second place.

``I don't think it will be resolved,'' said industry expert Ralph Tribbey, editor of the DVD Newsletter trade publication. ``On the theatrical side, the (box office grosses) are reported each day and everybody knows what everybody is doing. That does not exist in the home entertainment market because there are so many sources.''

Warner Bros. and Disney both use such sources as AC Nielsen and Rentrak to compile their figures as well as numbers from reporting retailers. But the process has proven to be an inexact science since, for example, Wal-Mart - which has about 35 percent of the video retail market - does not publicly provide its sales figures.

Disney's Buena Vista Home Video division reported combined rental and sales data for DVD and VHS titles at $4.7 billion in revenue and has Warners at $4.6 billion. Warner Bros. Home Video is claiming victory with $4.4 billion in revenue and has Disney second with $4.2 billion.

What can't be disputed is that Disney dominated in both the new release and VHS categories and enjoyed a record-setting performance from ``Finding Nemo,'' which is the top-selling DVD ever and the No. 1 animated title of all time.

``Our theatrical folks have provided us with a dream slate of titles,'' said Bob Chapek, president of Buena Vista Home Video. ``We had an embarrassment of riches.''

Besides ``Nemo,'' Disney scored big with ``Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,'' ``Sweet Home Alabama,'' ``Chicago,'' ``Signs,'' ``Bringing Down the House,'' ``Freaky Friday,'' ``The Santa Clause 2'' and the DVD version of ``The Lion King.''

The straight-to-video titles ``101 Dalmatians 2,'' ``Stitch'' and ``The Jungle Book 2'' also did robust sales.

``It's a category that we dominate,'' Chapek said of straight-to-video. ``Consumers want more product and we are providing them with what they are telling us is great product.''

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. had three of the top five best-selling DVDs of the year: ``The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,'' ``Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,'' and ``The Matrix Reloaded'' and had other top sellers including ``My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' and ``Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.''

``We had a great year with the leading market share in DVD and catalog titles,'' said Ron Sanders, Warners' executive vice president and general manager/U.S. ``The rental and television segments also helped us to achieve overall leadership in the video industry this year.''

Among the catalog movies released on DVD by Warners amid much fanfare were ``The Adventures of Robin Hood,'' ``A Christmas Story,'' ``The Right Stuff'' and ``Casablanca.'' Warners also released a collection of its ``Looney Tunes'' cartoons on DVD for the first time.

``Catalog is year in and year out one of the strongest parts of our business,'' Sanders said. ``With DVD, the collectibility of movies has exceeded our wildest expectations.''

Finishing behind Disney and Warners were third-place Universal Home Video, fourth-place Columbia TriStar Home Video, and fifth-place Fox Home Video. Paramount Home Video was sixth while MGM Home Video was seventh.

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com