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Digital boosts UK video spend

January 6, 2015

By Colin Mann

According to findings from the British Video Association, the UK video entertainment market is buoyant, with total spending just under £2.2 billion, similar to 2013. Digital continues to boost the video entertainment market with a 30 per cent growth in 2014.

Consumers prefer to own their videos

Buying videos to own and keep is overwhelmingly the preferred choice for consumers representing two thirds of all video spend. Total retail sales were £1.43 billion in 2014 with DVDs and Blu-rays accounting for 89 per cent of spend, the balance being consumers boosting video disc collections with Digital HD downloads.

Resurgence in video rental

Video rentals and subscriptions accounted for one third of consumer spending. Total rentals and subscriptions were estimated to be £755 million in 2014 with pay TV on-demand and internet subscription services accounting for 81 per cent of rentals, the balance being disc rentals.

Half of population buy videos to own and keep

Some 22 million people in Great Britain bought a video to own on DVD, Blu-ray or as a Digital HD download during the year, more than those that visited the cinema (16 million). Meanwhile 7.5 million people rented a video, according to shopping analysts Kantar Worldpanel.

Million Sellers

Four titles sold more than one million copies during 2014. Walt Disney Studio’s Frozen became the biggest title this decade with sales of 4 million copies on DVD and Blu-ray disc whilst The Hobbit – The Desolation Of Smaug and The Lego Movie, both from Warner Bros, and The Hunger Games – Catching Fire, from Lionsgate, each sold more than one million copies during 2014.

As popular as ever

According to Liz Bales, Chief Executive of the BVA, video is as popular as it has ever been despite competition for consumers’ time and money. “Research shows that video discs represent an emotional purchase and form of owning content that can be enjoyed again and again. Shoppers are choosing new ways to buy such as Digital HD downloads and renting on demand, but these figures show that DVDs and Blu-rays are still the most popular way to watch and own video,” she added.

Richard Cooper, Head of Video Analysis at IHS advised that digital consumption of video continues to grow at a prestigious rate in the UK. Not least of these channels is digital retail (EST). Thanks to industry initiatives such as early releasing (Digital HD) the platform has maintained an impressive growth rate, forecast at 25 per cent in 2014.”

2014 Video Sales Chart Top 10 (DVD and Blu-ray Disc combined)

  1. Frozen
  2. The Hobbit – The Desolation Of Smaug
  3. The Lego Movie
  4. The Hunger Games – Catching Fire
  5. Mrs. Brown’s Boys – D’Movie
  6. Guardians Of The Galaxy
  7. Gravity
  8. The Wolf Of Wall Street
  9. The Inbetweeners Movie 2
  10. Thor – The Dark World

 

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