• by Wayne Friedman , October 30, 2018

The rise of connected TV and streaming devices are encouraging more rentals and purchases of digital movies, according to a study by The NPD Group.

The research says individual digital movie purchases and rental transactions gained 19% in the first half of 2018. At the same time, TV homes with internet-connected TVs increased 20% and streaming media players climbed 17%.

Looking at the differences between buying individual titles and renting, iTunes users have the highest share of buying over renting: 60% purchase/40% rent. Walmart’s Vudu service tallied 55% purchase/45% rent. 

Amazon Video, Google Play and Microsoft Movies have a greater percentage of movie renters of individual titles than buyers: Amazon, 56% rent/44% buy; Google, 70% rent/30% buy; and Microsoft, 77% rent/23% buy.

The data comes from surveying 12 months of digital activity ending in August 2018.

NPD Group’s results -- from July 30 through August 7, 2018 -- is compiled from a survey of 5,677 U.S. consumers, aged 18+ from diverse regions and demographic backgrounds.

Other data in NPD’s report, "Videowatch Digital," covers purchases of new and previously viewed titles, store-based and subscription-based rental, pay-per-view (PPV), video-on-demand (VOD), paid digital downloads and free video content streaming.