Netflix DVD rental still popular

A new survey indicates Netflix DVD rentals are still the most popular option for consumers, even though streaming content is becoming popular.

According to the survey, 20% of 700 participants said they weren't Netflix subscribers, but planned to sign up for a subscription before 2010.  As such, 68% said "the ability to watch videos on the Internet vs. renting from a physical store or by mail" didn't matter.  Just 6% noted streaming capabilities were important, the All Things Digital survey reported.

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"DVD by mail life cycle may be longer than current thinking," Kaufman Bros. analyst Aaron Kessler told All Things Digital.  "While we would agree that a large percentage of the DVD rental market will move to digital in the long term, our survey indicates that the current life cycle of physical rentals may be longer than people think."

Netflix obviously started out as a DVD rental service only, but it has seen demand for streaming movies increase, which has led to Netflix working alongside several new partners.  The online service is now available through hardware devices from Roku, TiVo, Microsoft, Samsung, and several other standalone Blu-ray players -- and the trend should continue as more people begin to crave net-connected TVs.

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In the future, Netflix will rely more on streaming services to attract new customers, but is unlikely to close its DVD business any time soon, despite what has been said in the past.

I canceled my Netflix membership because the streaming movie catalog -- the main reason I started my membership -- wasn't appealing enough at the time.  I understand it takes time to add movies, but it didn't seem like it was worth the value to have such a select group of interesting movies to choose from.

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