Video Ezy and the Australian video rental industry as a whole. In November 2013, SmartCompany compared Australian Bureau of Statistics figures from financial year 1999–2000, which stated there were 1166 individual video hire businesses operating within Australia, to a 2013 IBISWorld study finding that just 255 DVD rental businesses were still operating in the country (a drop of almost 80%). The same study also found that the overall industry had declined at an annual rate of 14.8% over the five years to 2013. In addition to the previously noted online competition and threats to video rental businesses, SmartCompany also blamed recent developments from Pay TV and free-to-air television, which at the time had both radically increased their channel selections, as well as the reduced cost of DVD and Blu-ray discs, which saw the average 2013 price of a DVD settle at $16 in Australia, compared to $20 in the early-2000s, which acted as a double-edged sword for the industry, boosting the numbers of DVD sales, but also turning renters into buyers. Increasingly higher rent and wages also impacted the viability of video rental businesses to continue operating, as did continuing franchise fees. The Global Financial Crisis also had an impact on consumer spending. These impacts on the video rental industry were reflected in Video Ezy and Blockbuster franchises closing 270 stores across Australia in the four years to August 2011. By February 2016 only seven stores were left operating in South Australia, while over 50 Western Australian Video Ezy stores were reduced to a single surviving franchise by December 2018. This also lead to Australian regional centres such as Lithgow and Berri losing their only full scale video libraries when their Video Ezy and Blockbuster franchises shut down. In the face of decreased business some franchisees tried diversifying their stores, such as selling film and pop culture collectables in addition to video rental or subletting floorspace in their stores to other small businesses. Other stores, unable to continue as Video Ezy franchises, rebranded to rival video rental affiliations such as Network Video or went independent. 2018 and 2019 saw the last few remaining Video Ezy stores close down. The last Australian Blockbuster store, in Morley, Western Australia, would close in March 2019. This left Video Ezy Express and Blockbuster rental kiosks as the only side of the business to remain operating. In March 2013, Franchise Entertainment Group's CEO, Paul Uniacke