Six Out of 10 Movies Streamed via Netflix, Study Says

NEW YORK -- Netflix’s share of digital movie units viewed reached 61 percent between January and February, according to research firm NPD Group.

It calculated the share of companies for movies downloaded or streamed.

Cable giant Comcast came in a distant second with a share of eight percent, followed by a three-way tie of DirecTV, Time Warner Cable and Apple for third place at four percent share.

The information was collected as part of NPD's new VideoWatch Digital tracking service, so there is no historical information for comparisons with past periods yet.

NPD also said on Tuesday that digital video now makes up one quarter of all video volume in the home.

“Sales of DVDs and Blu-ray discs still drive most home-video revenue, but VOD and other digital options are now beginning to make inroads with consumers,” said NPD analyst Russ Crupnick. “Overwhelmingly digital movie buyers do not believe physical discs are out of fashion, but their digital transactions were motivated by the immediate access and ease of acquisition provided by streaming and downloading digital video files.”

NPD also compared consumer attitudes towards electronic sell-through, such as iTunes, Internet VOD, cable VOD and subscription streaming offers.

Consumers recognize that sell-through services have the most current releases, while Netflix's streaming service gets credit for providing the best “overall shopping experience” and “value for price paid,” NPD said.