Streaming video & movie rentals

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What's behind our streaming video & movie rental Ratings?

The Consumer Reports National Research Center comprises highly trained social scientists, including 9 Ph.D.s, using state-of-the-art techniques to survey more than 1 million consumers each year about products, services, health care and consumer issues.

We look for:

Reader score
A score of 100 means all respondents were completely satisfied; 80 would mean very satisfied, on average; 60, fairly well satisfied; 40, somewhat dissatisfied.
Type
Type of service
Selection
Satisfaction with selection of available titles.
Price satisfaction
Satisfaction with price paid for videos.
Convenience
Satisfaction with convenience of obtaining videos.
Picture quality
Satisfaction with picture quality of viewed videos.
Cost
Cost is based on information from the providers, and is the least expensive option for subscription services and the approximate cost for a recent-release movie from disc-rental stores and kiosks.

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If you aren't yet streaming video to your TV, you might be in the future. The landscape could change dramatically if Amazon.com steps up its efforts in video streaming. Other big names are also eager to feed the demand for entertainment. "Netflix has a lot of potential competitors," says Dan Rayburn, a New York-based principal analyst at Frost & Sullivan, a market-research firm, and executive vice president of Streaming-Media.com. "Dish Network, which now owns Blockbuster, will offer more streaming options within and outside its Blockbuster @Home service, and Verizon and Redbox are partnering for a hybrid service that will combine disc rental with streaming." He also sees the possibility that Apple and Google will add subscription streaming services.

Streaming video & movie rental buying guide

Millions of Americans now watch video that's delivered to their screen over the Internet. More than half of the 15,277 ConsumerReports.org subscribers we surveyed recently had used a streaming video service within the previous month. Most didn't drop TV service but used streaming as a supplement to regular TV rather than as a replacement for it. The overwhelming majority of streaming viewers--81 percent-- used the company that accounts for most of the action in video streaming: Netflix. The rest of the services covered in the survey were used by only 2 to 14 percent of respondents.

You should weigh a number of things when deciding which streaming media service best meets your needs. Streaming definitely has room for improvement. Satisfaction scores for streaming video services were lower than for most other services we've rated during the last few years. And respondents renting discs were often happier with the available selection of titles and/or their price. Also consider the types of equipment you can use to get streaming video to your TV. Don't overlook Internet-connected set-top boxes, which were among the most satisfying options for users.

Getting started | Set-top boxes | Movie rental services