CHART: Downloading And Streaming Are The Only Movie-Watching Methods Growing Among Teens
For a long time, the most common way to rent and purchase new movies was visiting physical stores like Blockbuster. But after Netflix came along with its DVD-by-mail service in the late '90s - and later, its popular subscription streaming service - companies started devising new ways to get people to rent and watch movies more easily.
So how are young people, who witnessed the twilight of the Blockbuster Age (including the company's bankruptcy in 2010), renting and watching movies these days? According to data from research firm Piper Jaffray, which was charted for us by BI Intelligence, the vast majority of teenagers say they watch movies by downloading them and/or streaming them from services like Netflix and HBO GO (which will soon be available as a standalone platform). In fact, downloading and streaming movies is the only movie-watching method that's growing among teens; retail store visits are in heavy decline, and DVD-by-mail services are a rarity among that age group. Visits to kiosks like Redbox have remained static over the last two years, but it's still nowhere near as popular as downloading or streaming.