Bodily residence media has gone by a turbulent time the previous couple of years. With the rise of streaming providers, demand for bodily media over the previous few years has steadily declined, with folks selecting the comfort of streaming over bodily discs.
There’s nonetheless a devoted fanbase of bodily media collectors, although, and extra lately streaming worth rises and splintering means folks have extra curiosity simply proudly owning the stuff they wish to watch. I’ve been writing about my hope for the resurgence of 4K Blu-ray, and bodily media generally, since 2023. Now in 2026, I’m really extra hopeful than ever. It couldn’t come at a greater time both, with the twentieth anniversary of Blu-ray’s debut on June twentieth, 2026.
I lately spoke to Kath Summersgill, Joint Group Head of Gross sales at Key Production Group, a producer specializing primarily in music manufacturing with vinyl, cassette and CD. Nevertheless, the group additionally works with Blu-ray, each video and audio varieties, and DVD. We mentioned the state of Blu-ray manufacturing, and bodily media generally, and she or he had some encouraging issues to say.
Promising numbers
“We’ve seen a rise in Blu-ray gross sales of over 10,000%, notably in Blu-ray Audio” Kath tells me. “That’s over the span of the previous eight to 10 years.” For a format that’s been on the decline, that’s an extremely encouraging quantity.
Kath then mentions the ERA (Entertainment Retailer’s Association) report from December 2025, which reveals gross sales income for Music, Video and Gaming gross sales. “Though there was an general lower within the bodily video format, Blu-ray really elevated by 3%”. Whereas that will not sound like so much, it’s a optimistic after some notably dangerous numbers.
In the event you learn extra into the 2025 ERA report, 4K Blu-ray gross sales elevated 19.5%, which is an especially encouraging quantity. The strongest promoting disc of the 12 months was Depraved, a disc I repeatedly use for testing AV tools and one of many foremost highlights of our Blu-ray Bounty function (extra on that later).
So, why have 4K Blu-ray gross sales circled? For that reply, we’ll need to look to streaming providers.
You’ll be able to’t depend on streaming
One of the vital irritating issues folks have with streaming providers is the supply of films. At one time or one other, most individuals could have skilled a film leaving a streaming service, just for it to both go to a rival service (that usually you received’t subscribe to) or for it simply to vanish.
I’ve even seen horror tales of individuals shopping for films on a streaming service that then additionally disappear. A Reddit thread within the r/AmazonPrime subreddit is a good instance of this, the place consumer u/Electrical_Paper6286 has had it occur “4 occasions between 2 films”. Though the flicks finally returned, it’s an indication of how tentative the ‘possession’ of films on streaming platforms could be.
It’s one of many key points affecting folks’s belief in streaming providers and one thing that’s driving folks to bodily media. Kath relates it to vinyl. “We all know that vinyl isn’t ever going to switch streaming, however it exists very fortunately alongside it. I feel that Blu-ray is identical, it affords various things that streaming does not. It is very a lot one thing you can have and maintain and you’ll maintain and you’ll play again and again.”
Kath additionally factors out one other challenge with online-based film and music streaming. “[With physical] you are not on the whim of your web connection velocity, or whether or not or not sure libraries drop sure titles, licence modifications”.
That is one other frustration. Quite a few occasions I’ve gone to look at a film on streaming and attributable to connection points , it’s both streamed in decreased high quality, buffered or simply not streamed in any respect. This isn’t an issue with bodily media.
A passionate fanbase
As I discussed above, I’m a budding collector of 4K Blu-ray. Whereas I don’t have absolutely stacked cabinets (but), I do have a collector’s version or two and quite a lot of steelbooks.
In FilmStories’ article in regards to the ERA 2025 report, they point out that steelbooks and particular editions helped the expansion in 4K Blu-ray within the UK, with each one in 10 4K Blu-rays launched having some form of steelbook or particular version, and attributable to their larger costs, they made up £2 of each £10 spent on 4K Blu-ray in 2025.
I inform Kath I’m a sucker for good packaging and she or he agrees and she or he relates it to a latest vinyl launch that Key Manufacturing Group dealt with. “We discover persons are doing this. We did a vinyl launch lately with 72 variants and regardless that the packaging was the identical, the colour of the vinyl was completely different.”
(I’m additionally a sucker for coloured vinyl, with a rust-effect Jack White/Useless Climate launch from a Third Man Data Vault assortment being a specific spotlight in my stack.)
Whereas particular editions are nice, it’s additionally the work of unbiased distributors and producers, delivering extra wonderful 4K restorations than ever, that will get extra folks to spend money on 4K Blu-ray.
The Criterion Assortment and Arrow Video are two of the large names, however different organizations comparable to Kino Lorber, Shout Manufacturing unit, Boutique House Video and the BFI are essential. These firms are producing extra sought-after titles and giving them wonderful restorations that imply folks need to personal them in the absolute best high quality.
In November 2024, I began the Blu-ray Bounty. That is an ongoing month-to-month column the place I take a look at the newest 4K Blu-rays from every month — and since its debut, the column has been rising.
We’re masking extra discs than ever, masking a wider vary of genres, and I’ve a sense it’s solely going to get larger. I’ve produced tons of lists of fantastic 4K titles which might be good for displaying off residence theater programs, comparable to this 6 action movies list and 6 classic movies that present what 4K can do. and a very good chunk of my reference discs for AV testing got here from the Blu-ray Bounty.
I’m additionally an lively consumer of the r/4kbluray subreddit and that is once more probably the most passionate subreddits I’ve come throughout. Customers replace one another on releases, give their ideas and critiques on the newest titles and all the time displaying off their collections in the absolute best approach.
Whereas it could nicely have been doom-and-gloom for 4K and Blu-ray within the final couple of years, I for one am longing for its future. What higher option to have a good time Blu-ray’s twentieth anniversary than with some excellent news.
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