TECHNICAL
office revenues are expected to exceed £1bn in 2026 for the first time since the pandemic. Major franchises, new IP and a broader range of genres are drawing audiences back into cinemas, reinforcing the cultural and commercial relevance of theatrical releases. Meanwhile, the transactional video market, spanning digital and physical formats, is beginning to stabilise. In digital, electronic sell through now accounts for nearly two thirds of transactional spend, supported by premium pricing models that lift average transaction values. Physical media continues its long-term volume decline, but Blu-ray remains the dominant format, now representing over 60 percent of packaged sales and underpinned by a loyal collector base. For broadband operators, these dynamics matter because they shape peak time behaviour. Event cinema releases, premium home viewing and transactional launches all contribute to short term surges in traffic, placing renewed emphasis on quality of experience, latency management and network resilience. Predictable growth supports long term investment Looking ahead, Futuresource forecasts that the UK video entertainment market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of just over 1.8 percent between 2026 and the end of the decade. While this represents a more mature phase of growth, it is also a more predictable one. SVoD will continue to lead expansion,
As broadband operators across the UK and Europe assess the next phase of network investment, one question continues to dominate strategic planning. What will sustain long term demand for high-capacity connectivity? New data from Futuresource Consulting suggests that, despite ongoing shifts in consumer behaviour, video remains one of the most reliable answers. The UK video entertainment market is forecast to reach £12bn in consumer spend in 2026, representing a near 4 percent year on year growth. More importantly for the broadband sector, that value is being generated through patterns of usage that place sustained, everyday pressure on fixed networks rather than short term or cyclical spikes.
upgrades and enhanced in home WiFi performance. Crucially, this is no longer a story of explosive growth followed by saturation, but of steady expansion that supports predictable network planning. A hybrid video market, not a zero-sum transition While streaming continues to build momentum, Futuresource data challenges the notion that it is simply replacing legacy models. Pay TV in 2026 has just this year dropped behind in terms of total spend, here in the UK video market, now accounting for 42 percent. Whilst service bundling has been a key strategy for Pay- TV services to retain households, SVoD is forecast to extend its share over Pay TV 2029, the intervening years will be defined by coexistence rather than substitution. Live sport remains a powerful differentiator for Pay TV platforms, anchoring subscriber loyalty and sustaining linear viewing habits. For cable and hybrid operators in particular, this reinforces the continued relevance of bundled service models that combine broadband, television and premium content. From a network perspective, the coexistence of streaming and traditional broadcast delivery also shapes traffic profiles, with linear services offering a degree of predictability alongside the more variable demands of on demand viewing. Beyond the home, the wider video ecosystem is also showing renewed strength. After a challenging 2024 impacted by strike related production delays, and a rebuild last year, UK box
At the centre of this dynamic is subscription video on demand. Futuresource forecasts that SVoD
spending will grow by 8 percent in 2026, accounting for around 45 percent of total video market value. UK households now hold more than 56 million subscriptions, an increase of 15 million since 2020, as consumers increasingly stack multiple services to access exclusive content, live sport and premium formats. For broadband operators, this behaviour has profound implications. Subscription stacking drives concurrent usage, with multiple streams running simultaneously across households, often at peak times. Combined with rising quality expectations, including UHD, HDR and improved audio formats, streaming continues to underpin demand for fibre rollouts, DOCSIS
Volume 48 No.2 MAY 2026
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