thedeparted
01-28-2012, 12:26 PM
Redbox has become the most popular source of DVD and Blu-ray disc rentals, according to an NPD survey released Thursday, which revealed a sharp drop in rival services, including Netflix.
NPD's VideoWatch tracker, which surveyed over 38,600 movie renters and an additional 74,000 Blu-ray renters, noted a marked shift away from the renting of physical discs themselves, with more and more consumers turning to streaming instead.
NPD said that consumer rentals of DVDs and Blu-ray discs fell by 11 percent versus the prior year. Nearly one in three video rentals actually occured either online or via on-demand cable, which NPD lumped together as a single video-on-demand service.
"The movie-rental market is clearly undergoing a sea change, as consumers become better equipped to access on-demand and streamed movies and are more comfortable with available delivery options," said Russ Crupnick, senior vice president of industry analysis for NPD, in a statement. "Even so renting physical discs from now-ubiquitous kiosks in grocery stores and other venues has taken the lead as the most popular movie-rental method in the U.S."
Redbox, owned by Coinstar, dominated the physical DVD/Blu-ray disc rental space, increasing its market share from 25 percent a year ago to 37 percent in 2011. Redbox's unit volume climbed 29 percent, even as it raised prices.
Blockbuster's share fell 6 percentage points to 17 percent in 2011. Netflix’ share of DVD and Blu-ray rentals was flat for the year at 30 percent. However in the 2011 fourth quarter, the company reached a two-year low of 25 percent.
"There's no doubt that Redbox has been the largest beneficiary of the collapsing brick-and-mortar store rental business, especially with ongoing Blockbuster store closings and the fact that there are also fewer independent stores than the prior year," Crupnick added. "The Netflix share erosion may have resulted from their recent well publicized challenges with pricing, and from their now defunct Quikster experiment; however, they are in the process of shifting customers to their Watch Instantly option, so not all of the physical movie rental share drop is a net loss."
Nearly one in three paid movie rentals now come from paid video-on-demand options. Netflix is the dominant provider of paid digital movie rentals, posting a 55 percent share in the fourth quarter of 2011. But Netflix’s share is down somewhat from the company’s peak of 59 percent in second and third quarters of last year, NPD said.
Blockbuster and Dish, which bought substantially all of the assets of Blockbuster for about $321 million last April, recently introduced the Blockbuster Movie Pass for Dish satellite TV customers, which provides access to DVDs and games by mail, in-store exchanges and movies and TV shows streamed to their TV or PC via the Internet.
It doesn't surprise me as it's a good deal, one thing I don't like is how it's a rather limited selection. That's why brick and mortar stores are awesome for their giant selection. Netflix is great and all, but the time it takes to get the DVD's is kinda lame. Maybe for a casual user it's great but for a person who's addicted to movies and can easily chow down 30+ movies a week. I just hope i never run out of stuff to watch on Instant Stream lol
NPD's VideoWatch tracker, which surveyed over 38,600 movie renters and an additional 74,000 Blu-ray renters, noted a marked shift away from the renting of physical discs themselves, with more and more consumers turning to streaming instead.
NPD said that consumer rentals of DVDs and Blu-ray discs fell by 11 percent versus the prior year. Nearly one in three video rentals actually occured either online or via on-demand cable, which NPD lumped together as a single video-on-demand service.
"The movie-rental market is clearly undergoing a sea change, as consumers become better equipped to access on-demand and streamed movies and are more comfortable with available delivery options," said Russ Crupnick, senior vice president of industry analysis for NPD, in a statement. "Even so renting physical discs from now-ubiquitous kiosks in grocery stores and other venues has taken the lead as the most popular movie-rental method in the U.S."
Redbox, owned by Coinstar, dominated the physical DVD/Blu-ray disc rental space, increasing its market share from 25 percent a year ago to 37 percent in 2011. Redbox's unit volume climbed 29 percent, even as it raised prices.
Blockbuster's share fell 6 percentage points to 17 percent in 2011. Netflix’ share of DVD and Blu-ray rentals was flat for the year at 30 percent. However in the 2011 fourth quarter, the company reached a two-year low of 25 percent.
"There's no doubt that Redbox has been the largest beneficiary of the collapsing brick-and-mortar store rental business, especially with ongoing Blockbuster store closings and the fact that there are also fewer independent stores than the prior year," Crupnick added. "The Netflix share erosion may have resulted from their recent well publicized challenges with pricing, and from their now defunct Quikster experiment; however, they are in the process of shifting customers to their Watch Instantly option, so not all of the physical movie rental share drop is a net loss."
Nearly one in three paid movie rentals now come from paid video-on-demand options. Netflix is the dominant provider of paid digital movie rentals, posting a 55 percent share in the fourth quarter of 2011. But Netflix’s share is down somewhat from the company’s peak of 59 percent in second and third quarters of last year, NPD said.
Blockbuster and Dish, which bought substantially all of the assets of Blockbuster for about $321 million last April, recently introduced the Blockbuster Movie Pass for Dish satellite TV customers, which provides access to DVDs and games by mail, in-store exchanges and movies and TV shows streamed to their TV or PC via the Internet.
It doesn't surprise me as it's a good deal, one thing I don't like is how it's a rather limited selection. That's why brick and mortar stores are awesome for their giant selection. Netflix is great and all, but the time it takes to get the DVD's is kinda lame. Maybe for a casual user it's great but for a person who's addicted to movies and can easily chow down 30+ movies a week. I just hope i never run out of stuff to watch on Instant Stream lol