TV-DVD GROSSING BILLIONS FAVORITE SHOWS OUT OF THE NICHE BOX.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

MARINA DEL REY - Led by such hot sellers as ``The Chappelle Show,'' ``Family Guy'' and ``The Simpsons,'' sales of TV-DVD titles in 2005 are expected to surpass the $3 billion mark for the first time.

The sales milestone was among the topics discussed Tuesday at the third annual TV-DVD Conference, a two-day event that drew hundreds of retailers, producers and studio executives.

This once-niche home-video category, which could never gain traction on VHS, has had explosive growth on DVD. It has 20 percent of the entire DVD market and continues to grow while sales of other types of DVD titles have begun to flatten.

``It's not just a niche market anymore; it's a market driver,'' said Dave Hoffman, an account manager of Neilsen Videoscan, which tracks sales of more than 100,000 DVD titles. ``And there are still lots of people out there who have not bought TV-DVDs in the past year.''

Judith McCourt, market-research director of conference host Home Media Retailing magazine, said the buyers of TV titles are far more active consumers than typical DVD collectors. They buy an average of 25 DVDs a year, compared with the 18 titles purchased by the average collector.

``Consumers are becoming attached to these multidisc sets,'' McCourt said. ``I think you are seeing the time crunch people are facing, and TV- DVD really offers them the chance to watch content at a time that they really want to watch.''

According to McCourt, the top three reasons consumers buy TV-DVD titles are because they missed an episode, they are collectors, or they simply want to watch their favorite show repeatedly.

Hoffman told conference attendees that older television shows are still easily outselling shows currently on the air. This is despite heavy promotion for boxed sets of such shows as ``24,'' ``Alias'' and ``Las Vegas,'' which are advertised leading up to the premiere of their next season.

But the blockbuster success this fall of the DVD sets of ``Desperate Housewives'' and ``Lost'' proved to be exceptions and sent a message to the industry that the most buzz-worth current shows can sell big.

Russ Crupnick, vice president and senior industry analyst for the NPD Group, said the biggest factor behind the TV-DVD boom is the emotional connection fans have with their favorite shows.

``There's this nostalgia, this emotional bond,'' he said.

The nostalgia factor was clearly present at the conference. Donny Osmond, ``Leave it to Beaver'' star Jerry Mathers, Linda Gray of ``Dallas'' and Christopher Knight of ``The Brady Bunch'' all shared memories from their shows' glory years, and they discussed the impact DVD has had on keeping the shows alive.

``It was the very thing I wanted to get away from because you constantly have to keep reinventing in this business,'' Osmond said in an interview. ``But now, enough time has passed where it's cool to look back. We just had a great time putting out great entertainment.''

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com