Video Island Captures 3% of Total DVD Rental Market

Video Island Captures 3% of Total DVD Rental Market

LONDON, February 10/PRNewswire/ --

- Online DVD rental market, one of the fastest growing e-commerce sectors
ever




- 64% of subscribers no longer rent from the high street



Video Island, the UK's largest independent online DVD rental company,
today announced figures, which underline the already massive impact online
DVD rental has had on the overall DVD rental market. According to MRIB
figures for 2004, Video Island, together with its consumer brand
ScreenSelect and partners (Tesco, MSN, ITV) already account for a
significant 3%(1) of the total DVD rental market in the UK. This is the
one of the fastest growth rates of any e-commerce sector.



A recent national omnibus survey conducted for Video Island by Taylor
Nelson Sofres, revealed that nearly 10m UK adults rent DVDs monthly, 24% rent
four or more times a month, 36% two to three times and 39% once a month(2),
showing the considerable opportunity available within the market. The TNS
study also highlighted that already 89%(3) of online homes have DVD players.
Furthermore, research carried out by ScreenSelect amongst its users also
discovered that 64% of subscribers no longer rent from the UK high street,
traditionally dominated by Blockbuster.



While Netflix has been highly successful with subscription-based DVD
rental in the US, the European market remains largely untapped, despite the
increasing level of DVD player penetration. Research by Screen Digest
estimates the DVD rental market is expected to be worth GBP388m by 2006,
already 15.7m households own a DVD player and over 1 million of these
households rent a DVD every week.



With the largest library in Europe, of 29,000 titles, Video Island rented
nearly 3.5 million DVDs in 2004 alone, with well over one million rentals
coming in the fourth quarter alone. Video Island is now renting almost
450,000 DVDs per month, which is the equivalent of 80 high street stores and
expects these volumes to treble over the next year. In January 2005, Hitwise
gave Video Island and its partner sites 31% market share of all visits in
online DVD rental, making Video Island the largest independent business in
the sector.



Saul Klein, CEO Video Island commented, "We have always believed that the
selection, convenience and value-for-money of online DVD subscriptions will
eclipse the traditional high street model and these figures clearly indicate
we are well on the way. We are delighted that through our ScreenSelect brand
as well as with our partners, including some of the largest UK brands such as
Tesco, Boots, Comet, ITV and MSN, we are rapidly transforming the UK's DVD
rental market."



Helen Davis Jayalath, senior analyst at Screen Digest commented,
"According to Screen Digest research, the number of DVD rentals made by
British consumers rose by 35% last year to almost 120m, valuing the market at
GBP363m. It's clear that the online sector represents an increasingly
important share of the rental business and that many consumers welcome the
convenience of renting a wide range of titles from the comfort of their
own homes."



(1) Source: MRIB



(2) Source: TNS Omnibus, Oct `04



(3) Source: TNS Omnibus, Jan `05



Source: Video Island

Contact: Louise Ballard at Ballard Associates on +44(0)20-7727-1333


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