Ratio

Friends who watch a lot more movies than I do swear by Netflix. It sounds like a great service, exceptionally convenient, but I don't feel I would get my money's worth, given how little I watch movies. (That same rationale kept me from getting a cell phone for a long time.)

I would suspect certain kinds of movies are more popular with Netflix than others. Hard to find movies would be one example: your local Blockbuster might not have them, but from a thorough list maintained by Netflix, you can find anything. A ratio of (Netflix rentals)/(video chain rentals) would be interesting to see.

There's another, well known, film that I suspect would have a high Netflix ratio. Coming out on video this week, including available for legal download, is multiple Oscar nominee Brokeback Mountain. I suspect a lot of people who would never be caught in public renting the movie would still be interested in checking it out. If anyone maintained such a ratio, I'd be interested in seeing if experience bears out my suspicion.