In the middle of an up-and-down holiday shopping season, DVD players and DVDs are a multi-billion-dollar economic booster shot, KMBC's Jim Flink reported Thursday. Flink said that DVDs are selling at a pace four times faster than VHS, and almost all the sales are taking place at the year's end. "Much of the demand comes between Dec. 1 and the end of the year," said Kevin Taylor, of US Bancorp/Piper Jaffray.

Taylor is a stock analyst who is watching the phenomenon blow up. Flink reported that the driving forces behind consumers' demand is that DVDs combine crystal-clear images, superior sound, and a great price point in both new releases and re-released old standards.

"You combine all those things together, it's a perfect storm -- and an unprecedented demand for this format," Taylor said.

Flink reported that the DVD craze has grown to such levels that most fanatics know that Tuesday is new-release day. With prices of both DVDs and DVD players going down, the popularity isn't about end.

"No other consumer product has had this kind of penetration, and has so quickly gotten into 40 percent of the homes in the United States," Taylor said.

Flink reported that the sales of two DVDs -- "Austin Power's Goldmember" and "Lord Of The Rings" -- have helped propel New Line Cinemas to $1.5 billion in revenue this year.