Old school is best – streaming platforms are almost twice as expensive when watching Christmas films, compared to DVDs
The UK’s top ten Christmas films cost £35 to watch on streaming services – including subscription and rental costs
· The UK’s top ten Christmas films cost £18.90 to buy on DVD
· Every single film (out of the top ten) is cheaper to buy on DVD compared to renting or paying a streaming subscription
· Six out of the ten films are only available on streaming services for a £3.49 rental fee
· National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation costs just 99p to buy on DVD
Millions of Brits will be starting to spend their evenings curling up on the sofa with Home Alone and other classics to get that Christmas feeling in the coming weeks, and research has revealed that buying the classic Christmas films on DVD is cheaper than the popular method of relying on streaming services.
The new research from established online lender Evolution Money has revealed that the ten most popular Christmas films in the UK* cost just over half the price to buy on DVD (£18.90) compared to the cost of renting or paying subscription costs on streaming services (£34.92).
The UK’s ten favourite Christmas films were revealed by the BBC last year, and include classics like Elf, Love Actually, and It’s a Wonderful Life.
Six out of the top ten films are not included in the monthly subscription on a single streaming service, and are only available for a £3.49 rental fee, which is limited to a 48-hour viewing period.
The most expensive films to watch on a streaming service cost £7.99, the standard monthly price for several top platforms including Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.
It’s a Wonderful Life is available via a £7.99 Amazon Prime subscription, and The Muppet Christmas Carol and Home Alone are both on Disney+ for a £7.99 subscription – Love Actually has just been released on Netflix for a basic £5.99 subscription.
In contrast, the DVD prices for these four most expensive streaming options are far cheaper: Home Alone (£2.50), The Muppet Christmas Carol (£2.49), It’s a Wonderful Life (£1.73), and Love Actually (£1.35).
The cheapest top Christmas film to buy on DVD is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, which is priced at a moderate 99p.
Top ten Christmas films ranked from cheapest to most expensive (DVD Price)
| No. | Film | DVD Cost |
| 1. | National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation | £0.99 |
| 2. | Love Actually | £1.35 |
| 3. | It’s A Wonderful Life | £1.73 |
| 4. | The Polar Express | £1.85 |
| 5. | Die Hard | £1.93 |
| 6. | Miracle on 34th Street | £1.97 |
| 7. | White Christmas | £1.99 |
| 8. | Elf | £2.25 |
| 9. | The Muppets Christmas Carol | £2.49 |
| 10. | Home Alone | £2.50 |
| Average Cost | £1.91 |
Every single film on the top ten list is available cheaper on DVD than on a streaming platform, though the price difference is much larger for some films.
The biggest price difference between the streaming and DVD cost is for It’s a Wonderful Life, with a monthly Amazon Prime Video subscription costing £6.26 more than the cheapest available DVD price.
The smallest price difference is for Elf, with the DVD costing £1.24 less than the £3.49 rental fee.
| No. | Film | £ Cost Difference (Streaming Services v DVD) |
| 1 | It’s A Wonderful Life | £6.26 cheaper for DVD |
| 2 | The Muppets Christmas Carol | £5.50 cheaper for DVD |
| 3 | Home Alone | £5.49 cheaper for DVD |
| 4 | Love Actually | £4.64 cheaper for DVD |
| 5 | National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation | £2.50 cheaper for DVD |
| 6 | The Polar Express | £1.64 cheaper for DVD |
| 7 | Die Hard | £1.56 cheaper for DVD |
| 8 | Miracle on 34th Street | £1.52 cheaper for DVD |
| 9 | White Christmas | £1.50 cheaper for DVD |
| 10 | Elf | £1.24 cheaper for DVD |
| Average Amount Cheaper on DVD | £3.19 |
Hannah Dearden, Operation Marketing Executive from Evolution Money said: “DVDs seem to be following VHS in becoming a somewhat forgotten technology, but this research shows that there is perhaps some scope for a comeback!
“If you’re one of the many Britons who might be looking to save some pennies this Christmas, DVDs could be a good route to getting your Christmas film fix – you’ll still have them next year too!
“If anything, this research shows the power of shopping around. It might surprise you how frequently there is a bargain to be found, even when scouring the websites of household names.”
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