Only 13 percent of consumers will rent a movie from a brick-and-mortar video store such as Blockbuster this year as rentals at kiosks and online streaming soar, according to a study by Toronto-based Convergence Consulting Group and reported by Home Media magazine on its website. Streaming video-on-demand from companies such as Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime will account for 25 percent of the rental-market share versus 13 percent a year ago. Kiosk rentals led by Redbox will see their share of the market increase to 22 percent from 19 percent in 2011, while video-by-mail rentals will plunge to 16 percent from 25 percent. Meanwhile, the number of people dropping their cable or satellite service, opting for online video services only, is expected to rise, but not appreciably. "Cord cutters" are expected to top 3.5 million people in 2012, up just 3.6 percent from 2011.

03/04/2012