Netflix vs. On Demand

As a new customer of FiOS TV, and also the owner of an Apple TV, I now have new options available to me in the home entertainment arena, particularly with being able to rent and view a movie on demand.

I have been a customer of Netflix since 2000, and I have rented X movies from them in that time. I don’t think I’ve set foot in a movie rental store since, and the recent closure of my nearest store, I know that in my case, it is Netflix holding the smoking gun that killed them.

So the question is, will my new On Demand options from FiOS and Apple return the favor, and do to Netflix what Netflix did to the bricks and mortar video store? An investigation was warranted.

My first question is one of selection. Which service will provide me the greatest number of titles to choose from? Netflix’s web site proclaims that they have “more than 90,000 DVD titles”, while FiOS and Apple can only weakly claim “over 1,000”. Advantage: Netflix

Next comes convenience. Traveling to a video store is less convenient than browsing the web to select a movie to watch. I find that my new rentals arrive from Netflix within a day after having a new spot open on my list, and having a rental queue always loaded means not even having to think much about what’s coming next. Something I put in the queue will come next. But it’s hard to compete with ‘right now’ for impulse movie watching. Advantage: On Demand

Finally, and most importantly, there’s costs. I am currently on the $18/month Netflix plan, which allows me to have three movies at home at a time, and to keep them for an unlimited amount of time. Prices for on demand rentals from FiOS and Apple range between $2.99 and $4.99 depending on the movie (new releases cost more), and quality (HD movies cost more). In each case, you have 24 hours to watch the movie you’ve rented. Using $3.99 as the average on demand rental cost, five movies would cost me about $20. But a review of my rental history over the last year from Netflix shows me I’m renting an average of seven movies a month. That’s math easy enough even for me; 7 movies from Netflix for $17, or 7 movies on Demand for something between $21 and $35. Advantage: Netflix

So there you have it. I’m sure variables will change with competition for my rental dollars, changes in technology, and other changes. And I’m sure that from time to time the appeal of renting a movie on impulse for immediate viewing will lead me to do an on demand rental. But for my regular rentals, I’m sticking with Netflix.