TV rating was not the main source of income for the Bleach anime. Actually the main reason why the anime lasted so long is because the DVDs sold a lots. I means the least sold Bleach DVD sold more than the One Piece and Naruto anime combine. In other word, the DVD sales have compensated the low TV Rating and the television broadcasting was only an gigantic ads for the DVD (and for the manga).
TV rating is not the only way to make profit with an anime. The late-night anime industries is the proof of that, most of them don't even reach more than 1% or 2% but than big majority of the anime production are late-night anime. They are all based on DVD/BD sales to make actual profit.
Daytime anime does not work the same as night time. DVD sales for daytime Jump anime are very low, almost non-existent. Even One Piece does not sell that well. Movies sell well, at least for a few series. Special collections, like the One Piece Log Collections, also sell well. Bleach sold respectably well by Jump standards. Those are low standards, and probably would not have been a major factor in deciding to end the anime. Kuroko and JoJo's were the best selling Jump anime of the last couple of years. Blu-ray usually outsell DVD, and most Jump anime are still not available on blu-ray, except for movies. New episodes of One Piece will not start coming out on blu-ray until 2014.
Anime BD and DVD's are expensive collectibles. BD's start at ¥5000 (about $50 American) for 2 - 4 episodes. DVD's are a little more reasonable, starting at around ¥3000, for 2 - 4 episodes. Sales per volume are always pretty low, even for the most popular series. It's a collectors market, with a small consumer base willing to pay premium prices. Sales alone are not a good way to determine anime popularity. It's usually obvious what's popular, without ever seeing sales figures. Think of it like American TV. I don't think anyone really needs to see DVD/BD sales or ratings to name the most popular shows. The same goes for anime. TV ratings are probably even less significant than sales. Honestly, I have no idea how anime make money, or how profitable they actually are.
Anime News Network posts DVD and BD sales every week, taken from Oricon. Here is this weeks
blu-ray and
DVD charts. BD sales are more important. DVD sales are always lower. Bleach episodes have never been released on blu-ray. Neither have One Piece, Toriko, Gintama, or Hunter x Hunter. Kuroko was a bestseller, so was JoJo's.
---------- Post added at 01:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:36 AM ----------
Merchandise sales are meaningless. They also are sold to a relatively limited number of customers. The average person in Japan would not be caught dead with figurines (no offense to ant collectors reading). Merchandise is for otaku. The existence of merchandise is important. The more popular the anime, the more crap they're going to make. How well it sells is besides the point. They are marketed towards a limited market.
