A STRING OF NEW DVD RELEASES BOOST SUMMER SALES

10 August 2010: Latest sales figures released today by the British Video Association, using data from the Official Charts Company, reveal strong year-on-year growth for the new release DVD market, including increases from the Fitness, Children’s and Music genres across all formats, helping to boost the 2010 home entertainment industry as a whole.

The BVA’s latest research report shows that new release DVD volumes (product less than three months old) rose 15.7% in July, with Nanny McPhee & The Big Bang (Universal) winning the top spot with almost 400,000 sales. Year to date volumes of new release DVDs were up 2.5%. The best selling title of the year so far remains Avatar (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment).

As the school holidays began, demand for Children’s product remained strong through July, with volume up 14.5% and value up 12.4% compared with a year ago. Kung Fu Panda – Secrets of the Furious (Paramount Home Entertainment) took 270,000 sales in July. Children’s video sales have risen 14.5% year to date, building on the 9.0% increase to the end of June. Disney’s Up remains the biggest-selling Children’s title of the year.

Sport and Fitness volume sales are up a healthy 5.3% to the end of July, driven by demand for Fitness titles. Hannah Waterman's Body Blitz (Universal) is currently top of the year to date chart, whilst half a million sales of the chart-topping Michael Jackson - This Is It (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) have helped the Music genre achieve a 4.5% rise in volume to the end of July.

Lavinia Carey, Director General of the British Video Association, says, “There have been some great new titles released in time for everyone to enjoy over the summer holidays and the improvement on June, which was very slow indeed due to the effects of the World Cup, is extremely welcome after a flat first half of the year.”
Ends

Notes to Editors

Top 10 best selling titles of 2010 – January to June 2010
(data courtesy of the Official Charts Company) 

For more information please contact Hannah Conduct on 020 7436 0041 or email hannah@bva.org.uk

• The British Video Association represents publishers of video home entertainment, the largest sector in the audiovisual industry.

• The BVA was established in 1980 to represent the interests of publishers and rights owners of video home entertainment and represents more than 90% of all the video distributors in the UK.

• Please note ‘video’ encompasses the home entertainment industry as a whole – from packaged media such as DVD and Blu-ray discs through to digital services. The industry releases around 8,000 titles a year and the BVA champions all content delivery channels.

• Blu-ray Disc sales have doubled their share of the total market of more than 112 million units and are 80% up to the end of July to more than 6.2 million units.

• The BVA 30th Anniversary Yearbook is available exclusively from the BVA. A hardcopy of this essential guide to the industry can be purchased for £149 or alternatively a PDF of the Yearbook can be purchased for £249. All orders can be made online at www.bva.org.uk or by calling the BVA on 020 7436 0041.

Visit www.bva.org.uk
Visit also www.findanyfilm.com
UK official Blu-ray website: www.thisisbluray.co.uk