Want to get your money’s worth with Netflix? Watch fewer DVDs

Something funny has happened to me. I’ve slowed down on the number of Netflix DVDs I watch each week. In fact, I’ve had the same two Netflix DVDs sitting near my television for three weeks now.

No, it’s not because I don’t want or have the time to watch them. Nor is it because I’ve grown bored with Netflix. And it certainly isn’t because I enjoy paying $14 per month to let DVDs collect dust near my television.

Fewer DVDs, more content

The real reason is because I watch almost all of my Netflix movies on-demand on my TiVO HD DVR. I wrote about the ability to do this back in December and since that time, my family (albeit mostly my kids since Netflix has all kinds of Disney and kid-related shows) has probably watched 30+ hours of Netflix on-demand content. That’s about 15 hours per month or the equivalent of about 10 90-minute movies.

So although I’m not getting my money’s worth on physical DVDs that arrive in the mail, I’m more than making up for it with on-demand content.

Others doing the same

I’m not alone with this new trend. Technology news expert, Ars Technica, recently reported in an article titled Streaming video cannibalizing DVD rentals, says Netflix that Netflix DVD rentals are down for subscribers who make use of the company’s online streaming service and that it has not affected Netflix’s bottom line.

I’d even be willing to go out on a limb and say Netflix’s bottom line is probably improving since they have most likely drastically cut down on the postage expenses and administration associated with manually mailing its DVDs.

Remember my recent post titled Grandpa, what’s a video rental store? It’s becoming clear already that physical DVD rentals have begun their path to extinction.