14/01/2003 - UK Homevideo sales rose by 26 per cent with DVD overtaking VHS for the first time ever

According to the British Video Association (BVA), the overall home video market grew by 26 per cent in 2002, with DVD sales alone reporting a phenomenal 11 per cent increase.
Total video retail sales were estimated at 154 million units, with DVDs overtaking traditional video sales by 80 million units compared to 74 million for VHS. These figures do not include mail order, which moved an additional 12 million units.
The traditional VHS market was down by only 13 per cent last year, a sign of the format’s ongoing popularity, something that was emphasised by the BVA’s director general Lavinia Carey, who commented, “the resilience of VHS in the face of such a strong DVD performance is remarkable. With Harry Potter selling 2.2 million on VHS alone, this is hardly a format that has past its sell-by date.”
Family entertainment dominated the Top Ten video chart in 2002 with Fellowship Of The Rings achieving 4 million unit sales, Harry Potter 3.5 million and Monsters Inc 2.5 million.
Over the Christmas period, the top three best-selling titles were Scooby Doo, Spiderman and Minority Report, and the DVD format consolidated its huge popularity with software sales up by 87 per cent during December.