Poll: Netflix Subs Still Opt for Disc Rentals

28 Sep, 2010 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Netflix subscribers continue to prefer renting packaged media to streaming, despite the fact that Wall Street and media pundits value and laud the company for its digital delivery prowess.

A survey of 1,200 respondents (including 49% Netflix subscribers) found that 80% used the service to rent DVD/Blu-ray Disc movies and stream content, compared with 11.3% who just rented discs and 8.7% who just streamed.

The poll was conducted by New York-based BTIG Research (registration required), which was seeking to determine the impact of so-called “cord-cutting” by cable TV users allegedly discontinuing premium channels in favor of lower-priced Web-based services such as Hulu, Amazon VOD, iTunes and Netflix, among others.

The issue became acute when the cable industry for the first time reported that the total number of multichannel video subscribers declined by 150,000 year-over-year in the second quarter.

Among respondents, who skewed primarily toward a younger, tech-savvy demo, 37.1% indicated they would be willing to sever ties with their cable operator in favor of Internet-based content and only buy TV DVDs of their favorite programs. Yet, 69.8% also said they had used Hulu to stream a repurposed TV show, and 54.5% said they had rented or purchased a TV show or movie from iTunes, Amazon or a related service.

Indeed, among those who said they would consider dropping cable, just 22.2% said they would continue to do so even if it meant not being able to watch live sports, TV, reality shows and not have access to TV programming until it hit the retail window.

The number of “cord-cutters” fell in large part due to the fact 93.5% of respondents lived in households that regularly watched football, basketball (78.4%) and baseball (68.4%). Top TV programs included “Mad Men” (34.1%), “American Idol” (33.3%), “House” (28.3%), “Glee” (27.7%), “True Blood” (24.7%) and “Dancing With Stars” (24.1%), “Weeds” (20.3%) and “Survivor” (18.1%).

“While we are concerned about the long-term potential of ‘over-the-top’ video, we simply do not view it as a major threat to the cable and satellite industries over the next three-five years,” analyst Richard Greenfield wrote in a post. “And we must not forget the fact that cord-cutting still requires a high quality broadband connection, with the cable industry increasing becoming the broadband provider of choice in the U.S.”

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