PEOPLE STILL PREFER TO RENT MOVIES ON DISCS

Netflix chief Reed Hastings may be doing all in his power to encourage consumers to forsake disc rentals and switch to streaming video, but a new study by Rentrak indicates that — by a wide margin — consumers still prefer renting standard DVDs and Blu-ray Discs than streaming them online or renting them via video-on-demand platforms. In a study released on Monday, Rentrak, which surveys 65,000 rental outlets, including brick-and-mortar, online, and kiosks, further disclosed that revenue from disc rentals dropped 3.4 percent in 2011 — not because consumers were renting fewer discs but because they were paying less for rentals — often just $1.00 at kiosks. Rentrak’s list of the most-rented discs contained some surprises. Topping the list on both standard DVD and Blu-ray was Summit’s R.E.D.