Annual Report 2001/02

Videos and DVD

Our video and DVD business grew at double the industry average with DVD sales up 382%

Thanks to our strong foothold in the DVD market and our wide-ranging video catalogue featuring both new titles and all-time classics, we have delivered a sharp increase in sales. This has been achieved in a fiercely competitive international market.

Our business grew at double the industry average during the financial year with DVD sales rising by 382%. We now sell nine million videos and DVDs each year.

BBC Worldwide recognized the potential of the DVD market early on and is now one of the UK’s leading distributors of non-film DVDs.

Building on the long-standing popularity of the BBC’s factual and entertainment programmes, we are steadily migrating our back catalogue to DVD format. This gives us the opportunity to add extra material – including interviews, out-takes and previously unreleased scenes – to enhance viewer enjoyment.

On DVD, The Blue Planet, The League of Gentlemen, as well as The Old Grey Whistle Test, Blackadder, Fawlty Towers and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, were among our best-selling titles this year, not only in the UK but around the world.

Video sales remained strong throughout the year. Our titles range from factual, such as The Blue Planet and Walking with Beasts, through entertainment, including Absolutely Fabulous and The League of Gentlemen, to drama, such as Pride and Prejudice.

The ever-popular Only Fools and Horses continued to perform well on both formats, selling over one million units, primarily in the UK.

Throughout the year, we easily maintained our position as the leading UK distributor of children’s television-based videos and DVDs.

We sold over a million Teletubbies and Tweenies videos in the UK alone, delighting children with titles such as Teletubbies Go! – featuring fun activities – and the Tweenies’ Song Time is Fab-a-Rooney, a sing-along favourite.

Overseas, we enjoyed strong sales particularly in the key territories of Australia and New Zealand. In the USA, our distribution agreement with Warner Bros saw video and DVD sales leap by a healthy 50%.

As with books and audio, we aim to continue expanding the business internationally and provide new outlets for the BBC brand.
We will further increase investment in new titles, product development and marketing in the coming year and we will continue to explore opportunities for growth through acquisitions, partnerships or joint ventures.