David Farnor | On 18, Jan 2014

blinkbox had record-breaking sales this Christmas, as viewers increasingly turn to video on-demand as a way to purchase and rent movies.

Sales surged 245 per cent year-on-year on the Tesco-owned pay-per-view service during the Christmas period.

The rise of the tablet

blinkbox attributes the bumper figures to the rise in the number of people buying tablets – including, surprise surprise, Tesco’s own Hudl. Indeed, on-demand sales to mobile devices jumped 674 per cent annually, while mobile sales (including consoles, tablets and connected TVs) now make up almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of sales, overtaking purchases made on PCs.

The figures follow BBC iPlayer’s reporting that, for the first time, tablet viewing overtook computer viewing on Boxing Day 2013. By the time Christmas 2014 rolls around, tablets may well be the dominant choice for VOD consumers.

“We expect to see further growth in tablets, games consoles and Smart TVs in 2014,” says Michael Comish, Group Digital Officer at Tesco and co-founder of blinkbox. “[We] will be focusing hard on bringing access to great entertainment into more and more homes via the most popular devices.”

Despicable Me: the most successful digital title of all time?

The blinkbox figures also reveal some interesting viewing habits when it comes to choice of titles: Elysium, Man of Steel were the three most popular titles during the festive period, indicating a strong demand for mainstream blockbusters, particularly those of a sci-fi bent.

Despicable Me 2, meanwhile, continues its astonishing dominance of the home entertainment market. The sequel was the third most popular title on blinkbox during Christmas, as families chose to spend the holidays (quite rightly) giggling at tiny yellow Minions saying the word “bottom”.

Only a few months ago, Universal reported the animated movie had become their best-selling digital title for its week of sales and that it was well on course to become the most successful digital title of all time.

New Year’s Day was the busiest day for blinkbox customers, with transactions up 266 per cent to mark the Tesco service’s record sales day to date. New Year’s Day was also the busiest ever day on BBC iPlayer.

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