Consumers in the United Kingdom spent \u00a32.69 billion ($3.65 billion) on video content in 2017, up 7.5% from \u00a32.5 billion ($3.39 billion) in 2016, according to the British Association for Screen Entertainment (BASE), which cited data from the Official Charts Company and IHS Markit.<\/p>\n
Spurred by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and transactional VOD, 62% of consumers rented\/streamed video, while 38% purchased content. Notably, 51% of consumers acquiring content chose packaged media, including DVD, Blu-ray Disc and 4K UHD Blu-ray.<\/p>\n
\u201cAudiences are clearly embracing digital options and the freedoms they afford,\u201d BASE CEO Liz Bales said in a statement. \u201cAt the same time, the strength of physical disc sales figures should not be underestimated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bales said retail demand for \u201cevent-status\u201d titles, franchise collections and family-friendly fare underscores the need for both physical and digital distribution.<\/p>\n
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment\u2019s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast <\/em>(starring Emma Watson) was the top-selling title with 1.55 million units sold (74% DVD, 13% Blu-ray, 13% digital).<\/p>\n Rogue One: A Star Wars Story<\/em> (Disney) was No. 2 with 1.38 million units sold (51% DVD, 36% Blu-ray, 13% digital).<\/p>\n Dean Pappadakis, category and commercial director, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, said success with the 2016 live-action remake of The Jungle Book<\/em> underscored the studio\u2019s belief in the Beauty and the Beast<\/em> reboot. It was a strategy he said Disney followed by expanding the Star Wars<\/em> brand with Rogue One<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cAudiences embraced both titles and their enduring love for the respective source materials became a strength for these superb productions that have collectively gone on to tell a heartening story in terms of continued audience engagement across the video category as a whole,\u201d Pappadakis said in a statement.<\/p>\n