Washington, D.C. (July 31, 2012) -- Higher Netflix subscriptions and rising Blu-ray sales teamed to boost home entertainment spending by 1.4 percent in the first six months of 2012, compared to last year's first six months.

That's according to a study from the Digital Entertainment Group, a trade organization that represents entertainment companies and CE firms.

The DEG said home entertainment spending reached $8.4 billion in the first six months, compared to $8.3 billion last year in the same time period. Streaming subscriptions represented only about $1 billion of that total, but subscription growth jumped nearly five fold. Netflix, the leading video streaming service, was credited with leading the category's growth. The company last year expanded its effort to convert its disc subscribers to streaming.

Blu-ray sales revenue jumped 26 percent in the first six months of the year while actual unit purchase increased 13.3 percent. The group said there are now 42.1 million Blu-ray devices in U.S. homes, including PlayStation consoles and standalone Blu-ray players.

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