Hollywood Death Spiral:

A "hollywood economist" article in Slate discusses real financial figures driving the current movie business. The writer has seen financial figures normally kept secret by the big studios that in some ways contradict "common knowledge" about the industry. The whole article is worth a read. But I'd like to repeat its most stunning point:
In 1948, the studios earned all their revenue from the movie-going audience.
In 1980, the studios earned 55% of their revenue from the movie-going audience.
Today, the studios earn 15% all their revenue from the movie-going audience. Almost all the rest is from DVDs. Obviously, the delay between a movie release in the theaters and on DVD will shorten, hence the author's use of the phrase, "Hollywood Death Spiral."