Total video sales in the UK topped £5 billion last year, according to research by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA). The figure includes streaming subscriptions, digital downloads and physical formats, including rentals, with combined sales climbing 6.9 percent compared with 2023. The video total exceeded games (£4.6 billion) and music (£2.4 billion) sales in 2024.
Unsurprisingly, streaming subscriptions made up the bulk of video revenues, accounting for almost 90 percent of sales. SVOD subscriptions were up 8.3 percent over 2023, reaching £4.46 billion. ERA added that Deadpool & Wolverine was the biggest-selling title of the year at 561,917 copies, more than 80 percent of which were sold digitally. Meanwhile physical revenues continued to decline, falling 7.9 percent YoY to reach £156.3 million in revenues.
“More than ever before, entertainment is a visual industry and so it is no surprise that video is now the largest segment in entertainment,” said ERA CEO Kim Bayley. “Subscription video services have transformed the viewing experience for millions. The challenge for video is to find a physical format which can do for the moving image what vinyl has done for music.”
The vinyl countdown
Indeed, physical music sales have grown steadily over the past three years, hitting £330.1 million in 2024, thanks to a 10.5 percent increase in vinyl sales. But again the segment was driven by music streaming revenues, which rose 7.8 per cent to pass £2 billion. ERA said the biggest-selling album of the year was Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department with sales of 783,820, including 111,937 copies on vinyl.
“With nearly 14 percent of revenues still coming from physical, music shows the benefits of having a mixed physical-digital ecology,” said Kim Bayley. “We continue to believe that digital and physical channels are complementary and vital for the health of the entertainment market overall.”
Meanwhile games revenues doubled music sales in 2024, but gaming was the only category to decline last year, falling 4.4 percent compared with 2023. Physical sales plummeted 34.5 percent, partially offset by a 12 percent increase in subscription revenues. Mobile and tablet gaming was the largest gaming segment, gaining 2.6 percent to hit £1.58 billion. ERA noted that EA Sports FC 25 (previously known as FIFA) was the biggest-selling game of the year at 2.9 million unit sales, 80 percent of them digital formats.
“After the breakneck growth of recent years, it is no surprise that the games market has slowed down, but it remains a giant,” said Bayley. “Despite the attractions of digital business models to developers, we believe physical still has a role to play.”
Overall, the music, video and games markets topped £12 billion in 2024, making their combined value 50 percent larger than the pre-pandemic total in 2019.
“We are witnessing a fundamental shift in the dynamics of the entertainment business,” added ERA Chair Linda Walker. “Digital services and retailers have become the drivers of the market. For decades it was new release activity which most drove revenues. In 2024 subscription sales are now a far more significant factor.”
