Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

A Third of Americans Still Buy and Rent Videos (qz.com)

Posted by msmash on from the where-we-are dept.

An anonymous reader writes: One-third of Americans still buy and rent videos, in addition to using streaming services like Netflix and YouTube, NPD Group found in its annual Entertainment Trends in America report. The research firm surveyed more than 7,000 members of its US online panel about their entertainment consumption during August 2017. Family films are still popular buys because kids will watch them over and over again. Spotty broadband service in rural America makes buying and renting more reliable than streaming for some. And some people just like to own and collect movies. Overall, 54% of people surveyed said they still buy or rent video.

15 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. I'm not surprised by Harold+Halloway · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Blu-ray video quality is still superior to most streamed video, in my experience.

    1. Re: I'm not surprised by Thundercat007 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Agreed, if it's some latest crazed blockbuster movie, stream all the way. IF by chance it's good and I want to see it again. I'll buy it. I have all my favorite movies on Blu-ray, the problem has become once you see newer movies, that's it. You saw it, told people you saw it but never have interest to see it again.

    2. Re:I'm not surprised by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I would say FAR superior. Not to mention streaming is not viable for many due to broadband limitations. Amazon Prime works great for me for checking things out, as I have a pretty stable 25megabit connection and only a 42" TV, but when I want to enjoy a film, bluray is a much better experience every time. Perhaps in the future that will change. Plus, I like extras and simply enjoy having a plastic box to look at.

      I still buy CDs too, even though the quality of a lossless codec is just as good. Putting a disc in and pressing a physical play button just does something for me. I always read the liner notes too and kinda miss vinyl for the artwork (though prefer CDs for sound quality and hassle reduction).

      Until streaming surpasses bluray quality and reliability and the extras are there too, I will keep buying spinning plastic.

    3. Re:I'm not surprised by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Blu-ray video quality is still superior to most streamed video, in my experience.

      At is much less likely to randomly disappear from your video collection like on a streaming service.

    4. Re:I'm not surprised by fatwilbur · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Having grown up in a rural area and moving to a city for school/work, it's really surprising the number of things city dwellers take for granted: high speed internet, water, electricity, etc. It's a comforting life with so many services so close by, in fact I know a number of people who are scared to even leave a city. It would do a lot of people a whole lot of good to go live on a farm on acreage for a year.. as Calvin's dad used to say, it builds character.

  2. I don't know about renting ... by damn_registrars · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ... but buying can still be really really cheap. It takes very little time for a movie - especially on DVD - to hit the $10 or even $5 bin now. They've put so many movies into the "impulse buy" category now that it's no surprise a lot of people still buy. On top of that if I want something I can't stream I can often get a copy on DVD through an online seller.

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
    1. Re:I don't know about renting ... by omnichad · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Exactly. Rent on Amazon for $3.99 or buy for $5.

      And for me, the secondhand market is fine. If it's not too scratched, I'll buy a movie for $1 at a yard sale. That same movie is not available for rental/subscription streaming and would be $6.99+ to buy a perpetual streaming copy. And minor scratches only matter until I rip the disc and or it in a binder. There condition of the physical artwork is irrelevant, because I use a pristine version on my media server.

    2. Re:I don't know about renting ... by jedidiah · · Score: 3, Informative

      A lot of stuff is not available for streaming rental and a lot of streaming rentals aren't that cheap. You're still better off going to a RedBox or using the Netflix DVD service.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  3. FFS You can't stream what doesn't exist by OzPeter · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Netflix has both streaming and physical movies. But the catalogues are not identical, so there are many movies that you can get on disc that you can't stream.

    In addition movies on Netflix come and go with their streaming service. Thus it is possible that a movie you watched previously is no longer available for streaming.

    And that doesn't consider that I have had my Netflix streaming service seemingly disappear for days at a time, only to mysteriously re-appear for no reason at all.

    So in reality the Netflix situation is just another example of a cloud service ebeing "someone else's computer".

    --
    I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
  4. Does the library count? by Jason+Levine · · Score: 4, Informative

    We often "rent" videos from our local library. We don't pay anything for them (apart from our local tax dollars which I consider well spent on the library system and any late fees) but I guess you could consider them rentals. Yes, there is often a wait, but my library has an app to manage requests between library branches and renewals which makes it very easy. I'm currently on the waiting list for Spider-Man: Homecoming when a copy is freed up - and I'm the first person in the request queue - the copy will be sent to my library of choice and I'll be notified to come pick it up.

    --
    My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    1. Re:Does the library count? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I do not use the library. However, I donate DVD and bluray to them all them time. I have well over 3000 discs (1200 movies and a few tv shows)

      Sometimes people will get me a movie "YOU JUST GOT TO HAVE" and I find sometimes I already had it so I am nice and accept the gift and donate it. Or I upgrade to a better version or bluray or something like that. Every once and awhile I buy a movie and forgot I had it already. So with as many as I have, duplicates happen. I donate them. Someone I knew bought a large batch of DVDs from ebay. They kept the 50 or so they didnt have and donated the 10 or so they already had.

      I personally buy all of my movies. Streaming services are nice however they come and go with what is available and the quality is very variable. Many times you can tell they are re-sampled DVDs. Which is fine if you want to just watch it once and never come back to it. But if you like the movie you probably want a bit better quality and on your terms.

      Companies come and go. But I still have my movies. Remember Blockbuster at one point had stadiums named after them. Some of my stuff I would love to upgrade to a better version. But they do not have a better version and they are not even on streaming.

  5. Streaming Video by PPH · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It was nice while it lasted.

    Thanks, Ajit.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  6. Selection by jabberw0k · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How many Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Alfred Hitchcock, or Charlie Chaplin movies are on Netflix? About half a dozen total (with zero Chaplins). A video store or your local library will probably have a few more. Every time I search my brother's Netflix for a movie or show (hmm, let's see... I'd like The Ghost and Mrs Muir, or Fantasia, or how about the real Avengers with Steed and Peel) it's not there.

  7. Yep by markdavis · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I still rent and buy discs, in addition to cable/DVR and also streaming. I consider it a perfectly valid content format for a variety of reasons:

    1) A disc never stops working (when treated right)
    2) Disc has best picture quality.
    3) Disc has 3D capability (which I like, so shove it :) )
    4) Disc requires no internet access (which is important to many who have no, limited, slow, or capped Internet)
    5) Disc rentals cover almost ALL movies out there, not just a sub-set available through streaming.
    6) Purchased discs gives me the option to save it in varies different formats, resolutions, etc, and use it on any device I like, immediately, with no outside connection.
    7) High-quality video on disc with no impact on network quotas.
    8) Purchased discs give me the option to sell it later, or lend it to family/friends.
    9) Discs have extra content- some of which is very interesting.
    10) If you wait a while, prices on discs can be surprisingly, even shockingly cheap.

    Of course, there are a some issues with discs:

    * "Unskippable" content on discs I buy, which is infuriating (and they are shooting themselves in the foot.
    * And discs CAN be damaged when not treated correctly- but I have never had that issue (except on some rentals, not discs I own).
    * Rental discs often do not contain the "extra" content and sometimes have limited audio choices.
    * Some [even natively shot] 3D titles are not being released on 3D discs, which is a shame.
    * Having to physically store them... although this is hardly a big deal if you are willing to depart with the large, stock cases.

  8. Re:Connections and streaming libraries are limited by MDMurphy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I still prefer "owning" movies I really like rather than streaming. You aren't subject to the whims of the streaming companies that have libraries that are constantly shrinking ( Netflix ) or rights holders that pull their movies to stream on a competing service (Disney).

    Like streaming music, the rights holders are slowly moving in the direct of a model where you'll pay every time you watch or listen to their product.