With Netflix Watch Instantly And Hulu, Apple’s 99 Cent Rentals Lose Their Appeal

December 9th, 2008

Over the past few weeks I’ve kept a running chart of Apple’s weekly 99 cent rentals and said movie’s availability on Netflix Watch Instantly and Hulu. Here’s how it looks:

Essentially, when the 99 cent rental program was first introduced, it had a fair amount of exclusive content. But recently, it’s a safe bet that title is available via Netflix’s Watch Instantly service – which, I might add, is becoming increasingly ubiquitous what with its appearance on the XBOX 360, TiVO, and even Boxee. Previously, I would automatically rent the 99 cent title, no questions asked, but lately, I check said title’s availability on the other two services. Since Netflix and Hulu are essentially free, I always defer to those options, even if the picture quality is less.

I can’t really say this overlap is any fault of Apple’s – it’s more likely due to the studios deciding what service to allow their content on, and one can infer they are providing their titles to several services to gauge the effectiveness of each.

The flip side argument might be, that because a movie is on Netflix Watch Instantly or Hulu, Apple thinks it should offer it at the 99 cent price for a limited time since it’s less likely anybody would rent it for the normal price.

But ultimately, the winner of this overlap is us consumers – more options to watch Milla Jovovich save the universe in that ridiculously skimpy outfit. I’m more than willing to let these companies hash out the “best” way to deliver video to consumers while we reap all the benefits.