With the compelling attraction of Team GB's performance in the Olympics and Paralympics over, the British Video Association's latest report on the UK video market - worth £1.3 billion year to date - reveals a 4.7% increase in DVD sales of new releases compared with September last year and a 3.7% increase in value, according to the Official Charts Company.

Demand for new titles on Blu-ray Disc was even higher, with a 10% increase in volumes in September on a year ago. This enabled the format to take 12.4% of total physical volumes and 19.7% of value sales, a record level. In the difficult economic climate demand for Blu-ray Discs has held up very well with consumers appreciating high definition video in the home with double digital growth for the format (up 11.8% year to date).

To add to this, the first nine months of 2012 has seen a consistent increase in digital video spending in the UK, up 18.6% in the third quarter - from £193 million in 2011 to £225.1 million in 2012, according to IHS Screen Digest - and 16.6% per year to date.

However, physical disc sales and rentals still make up the overwhelming proportion of the video entertainment market, amounting to 83% of consumer spend on video year-to-date - amounting to £1,078.2million in the first nine months of 2012.

"Our September report shows some better economic indicators, with consumer confidence and ASDA's income tracker both up a tad and unemployment down very slightly," commented Lavinia Carey, Director General of the BVA. "But while the increasing number of touch points for audiences to enjoy video entertainment is accelerating the growth in digital expenditure, physical sales and rentals are still expected to take 86% of the total consumer spend on video entertainment this year, according to IHS Screen Digest. And we have a stronger Q4 to look forward to, just as we did this time last year."

Story filed 23.10.12