The UK’s home video sector enjoyed growth of 9.5 per cent last year and is now worth £2.6 billion in unit sales, digital purchases and subscriptions.
According to figures released by the British Association for Screen Entertainment (BASE) and based on data from the Official Charts Company and Futuresource Consulting, 65.9 per cent of market value is generated by subscription services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
The number of Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) services is set to grow in 2020 with Disney+ due to launch later this year and the UK-centred Britbox due to complete its rollout to major platforms following its pre-Christmas debut.
While customers clearly appreciate having a constantly refreshing library of original and recent titles available on demand, almost 40% of SVOD subscribers also buy physical or digital formats.
Total sales were valued at more than £891 million in 2019, almost 55% of which was accounted for by DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD sales. Blu-ray now accounts for 27 per cent of the disc market by value, up from 24.3 per cent in 2018.
Digital purchases, also known as Electronic sell-through or EST, now account for 4.5 per cent of volume and 3.5 per cent of value.
According to BASE, the top 10 combined disc and digital titles all sold more than half a million copies in 2019, while the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody sold more than 1.70 millioncopies across physical and digital formats.
Disney enjoyed strong sales across all its labels and franchises with Toy Story 4 clocking up 827,000 sales, the Aladdin, The Lion King and Dumbo respectively reaching 637,000, 679,000 and 392,000 sales, and Avengers: Endgame selling more than 1.33 million copies.
The final season of Game of Thrones topped the TV title chart with more than 192,000 copies in the final four weeks of the year, while Sky’s Chernobyl was the second highest selling TV title of the year with sales of 116,000.
BASE Chief Executive Liz Bales said: “In a year that has seen consolidation between studios and independent distributors alike, the reality is that consumption habits are changing and are likely to continue to do so, with the debut of D2C services like Disney+, Peacock and HBO Max all likely to further catalyse that change.
“At the same time, it remains clear that ownership – whether on the best possible physical formats like Blu-ray and 4K UHD or, increasingly, digital ownership with its own set of flexible benefits like watching wherever on the go and instant access – remains of significant value to many of us.”
Official Video Chart 2019
(All Digital Retail, Blu-ray and DVD / All Blu-ray & DVD)
1 Bohemian Rhapsody
2 Avengers – Endgame
3 Toy Story 4
4 Mary Poppins Returns
5 A Star Is Born
Official Video Chart 2019
(All Blu-ray & DVD)
1 Bohemian Rhapsody
2 Avengers – Endgame
3 A Star Is Born
4 Fantastic Beasts – Crimes Of Grindelwald
5 Mary Poppins Returns
Official DVD Chart 2019
1 Bohemian Rhapsody
2 A Star Is Born
3 Mary Poppins Returns
4 Avengers – Endgame
5 Toy Story 4
Official Blu-ray Chart 2019
1 Avengers – Endgame
2 Bohemian Rhapsody
3 Captain Marvel
4 Fantastic Beasts – Crimes Of Grindelwald
5 Aquaman
Official Film Download Chart 2019
1 Bohemian Rhapsody
2 Avengers – Endgame
3 Toy Story 4
4 Venom
5 Aladdin
Official Film on Video Chart 2019
1 Bohemian Rhapsody
2 Avengers – Endgame
3 A Star Is Born
4 Fantastic Beasts – Crimes Of Grindelwald
5 Mary Poppins Returns
Official TV on Video Chart 2019
1 Game Of Thrones – Complete 8th Season
2 Chernobyl
3 The Crown – Season 1 & 2
4 Game Of Thrones – Complete 7th Season
5 Descendants 3
All charts © Official Charts Company