As connected devices become commonplace, consumers are increasingly choosing to rent and purchase digital films leading to such transactions increasing 19% annually in the first half of 2018 says NPD research.





The analyst found that as of August 2018, as 61 million US homes had at least one connected TV, video game console, Blu-ray Disc player or streaming media player, representing year-on-year growth of three million homes. Households with an internet connected TV increased 20% and those with streaming media players grew 17%.The research also found that among the top five digital film providers, iTunes users had the highest propensity to buy over rent, a trend attributed to because Apple’s movie consumers being generally more affluent and more apt to collect such content. In the twelve months ending August 2018, the research revealed that nearly a quarter of iTunes movie transactions were motivated by a desire to build a digital collection, leading to more buying than renting.By contrast, Vudu customers were also more ownership-focused than the average video consumer, as such 20% of transactions were motivated by collecting. Film collecting was a key driver for just 13% of Amazon Video digital movie transactions, 9% of Google Play purchases, and 4% of Microsoft Store movie buys.“Growth in digital movie transactions is being driven, in part, by access to TV-connected devices as an increasing number of viewers can simply buy and rent movies right in their living room,” explained John Buffone, executive director, industry analyst, NPD Connected Intelligence. “While greater access begets consumption, certain digital movie providers facilitate ownership over renting.”“It’s long been known that collectability drives ownership and that’s no difference in the digital era,” added Ricardo Solar, president of media entertainment for NPD. “Movie fans will always want to own great films, as such, provider agnostic services like Movies Anywhere are critical for enabling digital sales growth.”