Aging Boomers Still Want Their Fitness DVDs

Despite the ubiquity of online fitness offerings from Pilates videos on YouTube to indoor-cycling smartphone apps, fitness experts say aging boomers reluctant to go with the streaming flow want their home exercise in a DVD format. Fitness DVDs generated $297.2 million in sales last year and are likely to remain popular with older audiences, according to market researchers, even as the industry’s giants turn their focus to Web-based technology. “Every time I do a (DVD) shoot, I think this will be the last one, but we keep meeting our revenue goals,” said Miami-based fitness instructor Jessica Smith, whose company JessicaSmithTV produces streaming and DVD fitness videos.  Fueled by aging baby boomers, fitness DVD production grew at an annual rate of 7.7 percent in the five years to 2014, a report by market research company IBIS World showed. The company predicts growth will slow to 3.8 percent in the next five years, as streaming competition increases and fitness DVD giants like Gaiam boost their investments in Web-based formats. “I’d say streaming is an option for almost all providers of fitness content at this point,” Smith said. “Everybody offers some form of streaming in some way or another.”

Source/more: Reuters

David Wingate is an elder law attorney practicing in Frederick and Montgomery counties, Maryland. The practice includes trusts, wills, powers of attorney, Medicaid, and asset protection.