61% of Digital Movies Streamed via Netflix

In another sign that physical media such as Blu-ray players have a shortening lifespan in your home theater installations, a recent review of the home video market by The NPD Group shows Netflix's share of digital movie units - downloaded or streamed - reached 61 percent between January 2011 and February 2011.

It was followed by Comcast at 8 percent, and a three-way tie for third at 4 percent among DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, and Apple. Based on information from NPD's new VideoWatch Digital tracking service, digital video now makes up one quarter of all home videos.

"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," says Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD. "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."

Related: Netflix Unveils Streaming-Only Plan for U.S.

NPD also compared consumer-reported satisfaction with four modes of digital-video acquisition: electronic sell-through (EST), Internet VOD (iVOD), cable VOD, and subscription streaming. Consumers clearly recognize that EST services like iTunes have the most "current releases available," while Netflix streaming gets credit from customers for providing the best "overall shopping experience" and "value for price paid."

The data is based on online surveys of U.S. consumers age 13 and older conducted between January and the third week of February 2011. The final reporting is based on 10,618 completed surveys.