UK’s Official Charts Company Launches World-First Rental Data Service

The UK’s Official Charts Company today announces the launch of a brand new digital rental chart and data service for the British video sector.

The new service will provide the video category with the first monthly VOD chart service in the world to be based on data from digital retailers, delivering a view of consumer engagement with transactional video-on-demand (VOD) services.

Digital retailers providing data for the new chart include Amazon, Apple, Rakuten, Sky Store and Talk Talk TV, with the service supported by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) in tandem with UK video trade body the British Association for Screen Entertainment (BASE). Discussions are also ongoing with additional digital retailers to expand the panel moving forward.

The launch of the inaugural chart follows a period of rapid growth in VOD activity during the COVID-19 lockdown, with data for the first half of 2020 showing an average of 600,000 rentals per week before lockdown, rising to more than 1m rentals a week after lockdown was implemented. The new data also shows Contagion was the most rented title for the two weeks leading up to lockdown (in week 13 2020).

The scale of rental’s popularity is certainly underlined by the report, with more than 21m rental transactions made in the six months to June 30. Joker was the most-rented title with more than 600,000 rental transactions to June, closely followed by Jumanji: The Next Level with an impressive 450,000 rentals to June, with Rian Johnson’s Knives Out taking the number three position in the half year charts.

The monthly Official Film Rental Chart will be published in the middle of every month starting in October, together with the latest Official Charts Company monthly data report. The report and charts are published on a month’s delay, but with weekly breakdowns to provide the greatest degree of granularity. The report will be provided to all existing Official Charts clients, with deeper data available on request.

Martin Talbot, CEO at Official Charts Company, said: “We are delighted to deliver this world-first service and throw a light on the British public’s film rental habits. The list of the most popular titles illustrates just what a wide range of tastes the British public has, from Frozen 2 to Joker, or Jumanji to 1917 – as well as how huge the rental market remains in the UK, with more than 1m transactions in the majority of weeks this year so far.”

Liz Bales, CEO at BASE, said: “Alongside the Official Film Chart, which has been delivering a weekly snapshot of the EST film titles audiences are engaging with for nearly two years now, the world-first VOD chart marks a further significant step in giving distribution and retail a view of how film fans are consuming across a burgeoning digital landscape. We’ve worked hard with our colleagues at the Official Charts Company to unlock much of the data needed for these developments and are excited to be able to offer the category a valuable, regular view of the key trends across genre, product age and the wider effects of seasonality, theatrical drafting and even how the news agenda informs the entertainment audiences are seeking out.”

Kim Bayley, CEO at ERA, said: “The days of rushing to get your VHS cassette back to the rental store in time may be long behind us, but these numbers show that rental is still an incredibly popular way of enjoying films at home in the digital age, with lockdown only accelerating that trend. Congratulations to the Official Charts Company on an innovation which will not only provide vital business information for film studios, but also gives a fascinating insight into what the UK is watching.”

The Official Film Rental Chart – January-June 2020