The ritual of cinema-going hasn’t disappeared, but it has loosened its grip.
Increasingly, Australians are choosing couches over cinemas, pause buttons over popcorn queues, and the certainty of home over the gamble of a packed session.
That shift in viewing habits is now being formalised.
The Australian Home Entertainment Distributors Association (AHEDA) has launched the country’s first Gold and Platinum Digital Sales Awards, setting new commercial benchmarks for film sales and rentals as premium releases find their second, and often bigger, life at home.
The move comes as digital transactional viewing surged 49% year-on-year in 2025, contributing to an 8% lift in the overall home entertainment market and more than 21 million digital purchases – a clear signal that comfort, control and choice are reshaping how Australians watch movies.
The home premiere window comes into focus
AHEDA Executive Director Chris Chard told Mediaweek the growth reflects a fundamental shift in how and when audiences engage with new releases.
“Over the last couple of years, the home entertainment or home premiere window – the first opportunity for consumers to engage with films that have played in cinemas – has become really significant,” Chard said.
“Content is becoming available more quickly after theatrical release, and we’ve seen strong growth, particularly post-COVID and from around 2023–2024, as distributors settled into a more regular release cadence after the disruption of movies launching directly to streaming.”
Chard said the transition has stabilised into a predictable flow from cinemas to premium digital platforms.
“There is now a more consistent model for content flowing from cinemas onto leading digital platforms like Apple TV+, Fetch, Foxtel and Prime Video, and people are taking to that in bigger and bigger numbers,” he said. “You can see that reflected in the growth in purchases.”
Setting a national standard for digital success
Modelled on long-established global certification frameworks, the AHEDA Gold and Platinum Digital Sales Awards are designed to provide a credible, market-recognised standard for commercial success in Australia’s digital film market.
Titles generating more than $5 million in digital sales receive Platinum status, while those recording between $3 million and $5 million are awarded Gold status. All sales data is independently collated and validated by NielsenIQ.
For the 2023–2025 period, Platinum-certified titles include The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Barbie, Marvel’s Deadpool and Wolverine, The Equalizer 3, Wicked and Top Gun: Maverick. Gold-certified releases span a wide range of genres, from Oppenheimer and Fast X to John Wick: Chapter 4 and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.
Chard said the awards recognise both blockbuster scale and consistent consumer choice.
“All the movies that have played in cinemas are in one place on these stores, whereas not all films flow onto Netflix, Disney Plus or Paramount, which only carry a certain selection,” he said.
“Consumers are comfortable knowing they can find the latest movie by going to these digital stores, and you can see that confidence reflected in the growth.”
AHEDA Executive Director Chris Chard
Why audiences are buying, not subscribing
Chard said consumer preference is increasingly being driven by control, convenience and an ad-free experience, with audiences valuing the freedom to choose how and where they watch films.
“People like the no ads, and the freedom of not being locked into a single subscription service,” he said, noting that consumers also like being able to choose which digital store they buy from and whether they buy or rent.
Research, he said, consistently points to advertising as a key friction point.
“One of the biggest attractions of the home premiere window is the no ads,” Chard said, adding that once a film is bought or rented – particularly when it’s owned as part of a digital collection – “there are no ads.”
The appeal, he said, is simple: “They’re all in one place, there are no ads, and they’re available reasonably quickly.”
Beyond convenience, Chard said the value proposition is especially strong for families.
“What we’re seeing in our consumer research is a strong value equation for families,” he said, combining the excitement of films fresh from cinemas with big screen TVs, the comfort of staying home and avoiding the costs associated with a trip to the movies, from tickets and parking to popcorn.
He added that home viewing also offers a level of flexibility cinemas can’t match, with families able to pause a film, step away, or check on kids without disruption.
That environment, Chard said, has also given some films a second commercial life.
“Some films achieve success in cinemas and then go even bigger in the home entertainment window,” he said, noting that it’s often the titles that struggled theatrically that surprise later.
“The Shawshank Redemption is a classic example.” He added that The Beekeeper, starring Jason Statham, is on track to reach Platinum status, if it hasn’t already – a sign of how powerful the home entertainment window has become.
A growing retail ecosystem
Chard said the expansion of platforms is further strengthening the sector.
“More platforms are entering the sector, which is expanding distribution in the home entertainment window,” he said. “Smaller but important platforms like Letterboxd have entered digital rentals, and JustWatch is also moving into that space.”
Looking ahead, he said the outlook for both theatrical and at-home viewing remains strong.
“The future for the cinema sector looks strong, with an impressive forward release schedule, alongside growing momentum for consumers building their own digital collections – effectively creating their own ad-free, always-available streaming libraries.”
“At the moment, we’re seeing around five or six films achieve Platinum status each year and about 10 Gold. Success would be doubling those numbers.”