DVDs, Blu-ray disc rentals still surpass streaming
Streaming video may be cost-effective and convenient, but consumers are still renting more movies via the mail and physical retailers.
People renting DVDs and Blu-ray discs through retail stores, kiosks, and Netflix’s mail service totaled more than 62 percent of all movie rentals in the first half of the year, according to NPD Group. In contrast, those renting digital movies via subscription streaming, pay TV video on demand, and Internet VOD added up to only 38 percent.
Though physical discs still lead the rental landscape, their popularity has been waning. Rentals of DVDs and Blu-ray discs dropped by 17 percent over the past year. As brick-and-mortal video stores continue to fade away, kiosks have taken their place with 45 percent of the physical rental market, up 5 percent from last year.
Change is inevitable but disc-based media hasn’t turned to dust like pop culture might have you believe. Heck, it was just recently that legal digital downloads overtook CD sales (50.3% to 49.7%).