The coronavirus lockdown produced a boom in subscriptions to video, music and games services according a guide from the Entertainment Retailers’ Association (ERA) about how the UK entertained itself in the first half of 2020. The data comes from ERA’s tracking study which has measured the entertainment choices of a representative panel of up to 2,000 consumers each quarter for the past seven years. The latest 28th wave of the research commenced on 25th May 2020, two months into the coronavirus lockdown.
Top performer was the new Disney+ family subscription service, launched just as lockdown began, with 10.5% of respondents saying they had subscribed. It was followed by Netflix with 8.4% and Amazon Prime at 5.6%. Significantly, most new subscribers say they will stick with their new services once lockdown is over, with more than 93% of Amazon Prime Music Unlimited subscribers saying they will maintain their subscription and more than 60% of those paying for each of the Top 10 services saying they will continue to subscribe.
Most physical buyers will return
With physical entertainment outlets closed during lockdown, 41% of respondents who normally shop for music, video and games in store were prevented from doing so. However nearly 80% of respondents said they expect to spend as much or more in store once shops reopen. There was one note of caution, however: The younger the respondent is, the more likely they are to shop less on the high street post-lockdown than they did before, with 33% of under-25s saying they will shop ‘less’ or ‘a lot less’.
Video and games dominated lockdown entertainment
Unsurprisingly video and games dominated the UK’s entertainment purchases. The biggest two titles of the lockdown period came from Walt Disney Studios, Star Wars IX – The Rise Of Skywalker which generated sales of 637,484, followed by Frozen 2 (541,783). Positions three to five – FIFA 20, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare and Grand Theft Auto V respectively – were all games. Of the top 40 titles, 21 were games, 16 video and only three albums. These were Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia in 20th position, Lewis Capaldi’s Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent at 28 and Weeknd’s After Hours coming in at 39th place.
