Revenue from video streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime will overtake cinema earnings within the next three years, according to a report.
PwC predicts the amount spent watching on-demand digital TV and films will rise by over 30 per cent in the UK by 2020 – to £1.42bn.
This outstrips the PwC prediction for box office, which is forecasts to be £1.41bn at the turn of the decade.
Phil Stokes, PwC’s UK head of entertainment and media, said: “Demand for internet video shows no signs of slowing down.
“The figures do not signal the death of film. Look at the box office performance of films such as Star Wars: Rogue One or Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to see the significant amount of enthusiasm for blockbuster movies out there.
“The failure in this market is the high street retailers, supermarkets and specialist stores [selling DVDs and Blu-ray].
“As well as the shift to digital a lot of physical buying is from services like Amazon. And online streaming is bypassing high street retailers.”
The PwC report predicted cinema attendance will continue to grow, rising from 172m admissions in 2016 to 179m in 2021.
The number of screens in the UK is also forecast to grow, from 4,143 to 4,542.
Further, the study predicted that by 2020 Netflix and Amazon will together account for almost two-thirds of the on-demand subscription market, with the remainder accounted for by viewers purchasing one-off programmes, sporting events or films through services such as the Apple iTunes store or Sky Box Office.
Conversely, PwC believes DVD and Blu-ray sales will see a “terminal decline”, dropping from £1.22bn last year to £533m in 2021.