29/04/2016 - Digital products are rising sharply (+42%), but Italians still prefer DVD and Blu-Ray. A positive trend confirmed by the first three months of 2016

The Home Video sector is once again growing in Italy: after years of stagnation and a significantly stable 2014, in 2015 the sector generated turnover of €368 million, signalling overall growth of 5.1% on the previous year. These figures are from the Univideo 2016 Report on Home Entertainment in Italy, which was drawn up in collaboration with GfK Italia (you can download the report here). A significant figure for the entire film industry, equivalent to over half of box-office takings in 2015, which stood at €637 million.

TV series are the new passion of the Italian public: up 12.9% in value and up 19.9% in terms of volume, box sets have seen the most sustained growth in comparison to 2014. Fictional films are still the most popular genre, chosen by over half of consumers, followed by animated films. The protagonists of 2015 were films listed in the charts, or rather those that were in cinemas for more than 12 weeks.

“Italy is the only country in Europe with a positive trend in DVD and Blu-ray sales, - stated the President of Univideo, Lorenzo Ferrari Ardicini – which is also confirmed by the figures from the first three months of 2016: between January and March sales of new releases started growing again, thanks to a quarter particularly rich in box office hits. After years of decline, prices are also once again increasing from those seen in the first quarter of 2015” (compare with the “European Video Market 2015” here).

So Italians still prefer physical media supports, which lead the entire home entertainment sector with €332 million in turnover between DVD and Blu-ray sales and rentals. Digital (Video on Demand and Electronic sell-through) products are rising sharply (+42%), contributing €36 million to the overall turnover of the Home Video sector. “We’re certain that in years to come digital products will win over more slices of the market – added Lorenzo Ferrari Ardicini – also thanks to the plan launched by the government to increase the distribution of broadband by 2020”.

(Translated from Italian)