Tweens get their fill of Disney disc

'Musical' DVD offers features not available for download

By DIANE GARRETT

Tweeners just can't get enough of "High School Musical." Disney Channel's hugely popular made-for, which has already spawned a hit soundtrack, racked up more than 400,000 units in first-day DVD sales to become the year's fastest-selling TV program on disc.

The telepic has been available for $9.99 iTunes download since March, causing some concern about DVD cannibalization. The $26.99 encore edition DVD contains features not available for download on Apple's service, however.

"High School Musical" disc sales easily outpaced the first season of "Grey's Anatomy," released by Disney homevid in February. Other top recent TV on DVD sellers include the fourth season of "24," released last December by Fox homevid during the final holiday shopping push.

"High School Musical" bowed on the Disney Channel in January, racking up a network high 7.7million viewers and has been in heavy rotation ever since. The soundtrack has been a steady seller, starting slowly the program's debut week, then building to become the first TV show soundtrack to land on top of SoundScan's rankings in March. It has sold well over a million units.

The soundtrack was also the top seller on iTunes for three weeks, and the madefor became the first full-length feature available for download on Apple's service in March.

And if Disney Theatrical Prods. has its way, productions of "High School Musical" will begin popping up on stages this October.