Streaming is more and more common these days, but the cable companies are fighting back with video on demand. What's cheaper as far as you see it? What are you using?
Video on Demand with my provider is expensive. I will often rent and stream a movie via Amazon on Demand, rather than through video on demand with my provider, because I can save a few dollars. My provider offers barely any free movies On Demand, so most have to be purchased, which limits my movie watching. I've also checked into Vudu, and would definitely rent and stream from them, since their prices are also usually lower than those of my cable provider.
Well, I am with Virgin Media as far as my TV plan and internet plan goes. I use the internet to do all of my television show watching, from movies to TV shows, to documentaries. I rarely use Video On Demand services, and streaming isn't for me either. If I am going to watch something, I like to have the file on my phone or computer, where I don't have to worry about what will happen if my internet connection goes out.
Streaming. The one time I tried VOD I found that my provider absolutely gouged on movies, even above and beyond the price for the average rented movie from, say, a Blockbuster. (This was a while ago.) You only got to watch it once, as well, and if you stopped the movie partway through it would occasionally - far too occasionally - glitch, and assume you'd just watched the whole thing. I'll still get VOD movies, if there's something I really want to watch and can't find on streaming, but overall I'd much rather use services like Netflix.
Streaming services are somewhat cheaper and there are numerous sites where you can watch old movies, old TV shows, etc, free. Obviously these sites would be the best option. With VOD there's one benefit that draws people. You get to watch whatever you want any time you want to. The convenience, even though it comes at an extra cost does appeal to some people. For those who want to save some cash though they should avoid VOD.
I haven't used Video On Demand in several years now. There just isn't any reason to these days, unless it's some incredibly hard to find program. I can find just about any show or movie I want online within a couple minutes of looking. I'm already paying the cable company for my internet, so if I would rather just download or stream the shows and movies I want to watch, that's my business. The only On Demand stuff I used to watch were programs that I had not gotten around to programming them to be recorded or I missed them. But I only watched the free On Demand stuff. Another reason I might have used On Demand was when I already had too many recorded shows on my DVR and could not fit any more stuff on there.
That is why competition is so good, when there are a lot of services and companies doing similar things, the prices tend to come down. To be honest I don't have a lot of time to watch movies, so I am not using the service.
Streaming will always be cheaper especially if you know where to look. Many sites in cyberspace offer free streaming anyway (but you have to put up with a lot of ads). We also have cable at home but it would cost us a lot to watch an event live. For instance, there was this huge boxing match between Mayweather and Pacquiao early this year. It was such a bummer because we paid a few hundred dollars just to see it live. Boy, did we wish we hadn't.
