Sales of 4K Ultra High Definition discs have risen by 20 per cent during 2020 according to new figures from the British Association for Screen Entertainment (BASE).
During the last year, 4K UHD discs accounted for 23 per cent of all Blu-Ray sales, up from 4.3 per cent in 2019.
According to BASE, rereleases of content that has been remastered in 4K has accounted for much of the increase; of the titles where the original disc release was over a year ago, total consumer spend this year has totalled £19.2 million, which accounts for 73 per cent of total 4K UHD spend.
The biggest-selling 4K UHD disc of 2020 was Star Wars IV: A New Hope, followed Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.
“Consumers have proven in 2020 that there is continuing demand to own these classic catalogue titles on premium disc formats,” said BASE, “and with a huge treasure trove of catalogue content yet to receive re-releases, the 564 titles currently available on the 4K UHD format seems likely to keep rising as we enter 2021 and beyond.”
Total EST (electronic sell-through, or digital purchase) sales across both film and TV content delivered 14.5 per cent growth year-on-year after a record period of growth during the March lockdown, said BASE. Spend on TVoD (transactional video-on-demand) saw almost 24 per cent growth.
BASE reports SVoD services grew by 42 per cent in 2020, with streaming services now accounting for 74 per cent of the total market value.
