DVD sales boosted by bad UK weather

Bad weather has caused a huge surge in DVD sales this summer, compared to last year

The recent wet weather in the UK has seen a 38.5 per cent increase in DVD sales compared with this time last year. The British Video Association said that DVD rentals are also up on last year.

Consumers bought 38.5 per cent more DVDs than in June 2006 and they also rented 4.7 per cent more titles.

While CD album sales have fallen 10 per cent in the first six months of the year, DVD sales have risen by 12.6 per cent. And in all, 108 million DVDs were sold by the end of June this year, equivalent to some four copies per household.

"Home entertainment has clearly offered some respite to the dreary wet weather," the BVA said.

The DVD is not dead

"We are delighted with how the home entertainment sector is performing. DVD continues to prove its strength as a format and demand from customers keeps rising.

"Particularly encouraging is the growth in the rental sector, June seeing the first uplift in 12 months. We've got some excellent releases to look forward to in the coming months, so expect the trend to continue into the second half."

Who said that Blu-ray and HD DVD were coming to kill off the DVD?

James Rivington

James was part of the TechRadar editorial team for eight years up until 2015 and now works in a senior position for TR's parent company Future. An experienced Content Director with a demonstrated history of working in the media production industry. Skilled in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), E-commerce Optimization, Journalism, Digital Marketing, and Social Media. James can do it all.