Strong '96 vid growth blots out blight on Blighty's biz
LONDON --- The British video industry posted strong growth in both rental and sell-through in 1996, up 6% and 8% respectively over 1995, and with total sales of £1.3 billion ($2.1 billion).
The year saw 230 million rental transactions, accounting for $795 million of total sales. The positive results reflect a major turnaround in rentals in the U.K. over the past two years. Rentals had peaked in 1989 and then slumped for five years until 1995.
"Braveheart" led the rental pack with 4 million transactions. "Seven" and "Die Hard With a Vengeance" were second and third.
Of the 79 million vids sold in Britain in 1996, 23.2% were kidvids. "Toy Story" was the bestselling children's title and No. 1 title overall, moving 2.7 million units.Action-adventure proved most popular, at 27.2% of the market. 19.3% of rentals were comedies, 18.5% dramas and 17% thrillers
