British screen entertainment industry shares insights
March 18, 2016
By Colin Mann
Leaders from across the UK home entertainment industry gathered in London for the annual Insight Forum, from the newly-rebranded British Association for Screen Entertainment (BASE). The event – Driving the Video Category Forward – was produced in association with the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA).
Previously known as the British Video Association (BVA), the British Association for Screen Entertainment (BASE) hosted the event, which was attended by over 250 representatives from distributors, retailers and suppliers to the video industry.
Headlining the event was Executive Producer and Oscar winner, James Gay-Rees, who touched on the importance of supporting creative industries through the protection of copyright and the value of signposting audiences to legal services via tools such as the Industry Trust’s FindAnyFilm.com.
“As retailers, distributors, publishers and suppliers we are all trying to create the best experience possible for consumers across all formats and platforms,” stated Marcus Arthur, President UK and ANZ, BBC Worldwide. “The BASE Insight Forum is an excellent opportunity to pool our market knowledge and insights to help us achieve this.”
Rudy Osorio, Multiple Chairman, ERA and Category Head, Blu-ray and DVD at HMV, highlighted the importance of and key mechanisms in creating value and engagement both at retailer and at consumer level. “Having a forum in which retailers can directly address suppliers in this environment is invaluable, having shared insights and clear visibility on the direction of travel for the category makes the process truly collaborative and helps us, as a whole, leverage our collective strengths for the benefit of us all,” he noted.
According to Liz Bales, CEO, British Association for Screen Entertainment, the Insight Forum has become a much anticipated flagship event for the category, insights addressed and the discussions ignited helps to shape the future of the category. “ERA is a valued partner and with them on board we are able to further strengthen the collaboration between distribution and retail.”
According to Kantar Worldpanel Insight Director James Brown, physical video remains one of the most dominant forms of entertainment, whilst its shoppers remain the most committed of all formats.
“Seven in ten consumers like that physical reassurance of the disc. DVDs are seen as there when you want them, so they are great as a library resource and also a great gift,” revealed James Burke, Insight Director, Kantar Media. “Meanwhile, digital is great for spur of the moment purchases, especially new releases. More tech-savvy consumers are saving their digital copies in network attached storage (NAS) in order to be able to upload films and distribute them round the home.”
David Sidebottom, Principle Analyst, Futuresource Consulting, noted that sales of film as digital downloads increased 41 per cent in 2015, with nearly 70 per cent sold in HD. “In the last quarter of 2015, some 60 per cent of film digital downloads were for catalogue product. In total, at least eleven films grossed more than £1 million each in digital downloads.”