While streaming services are often slammed for having limited or out-of-date content, and cinemas are charging up to $20 a ticket, you may find your best viewing options on your next domestic flight.

Currently, passengers on a short domestic flight with Virgin or Qantas have access to most of the Best Picture nominees at this year’s Oscars, including Darkest Hour and The Shape of Water – many of which are yet to arrive on iTunes or DVD.

This desire to be fresh and to be first is an increasing preoccupation for airlines, according to Cathie Trotta, managing director of Penny Black Media, a California-based film distributor for the global airline market.

“Most airlines still consider their ‘early window’ to be important … so that the film is onboard while there is still some buzz around it,” Ms Trotta tells The New Daily.

A Qantas spokesperson concurs that timing is everything: “We work with studios to secure titles as early as possible, in some cases we have a title on board at the same time it’s in Australian cinemas.

“Typically, we release movies at least one month before iTunes and  DVD, and four months before Netflix, Stan, and Amazon Prime.”

Ms Trotta says we can thank streaming for this shake-up.

Perhaps surprisingly, the most-watched movie on Qantas for 2017 was the kids’ film Boss Baby.

“Streaming is changing the landscape on both the acquisitions side of the business, with Amazon and Netflix licensing films outright and skipping direct to their VOD

window, and also on the airline side, with many airlines now providing wireless IFE [in-flight entertainment] systems that are being programmed with early-window and late-window content,” she explains.

But while timing is key, certain film genres are perennially more popular than others.

“Strong cast remains key for a film to have appeal in our market … But if I had to pick one specific genre that probably travels across the board, it would probably be action thriller; second to that, romantic comedy,” Ms Trotta says.

For Qantas, it was the animated film Boss Baby, starring Alec Baldwin, that attracted the most viewers in 2017, while Game of Thrones and Modern Family were the most-watched TV shows.

The airline’s Premiere category, featuring new-release films, is the most popular by far – and possibly why they’ve focused so much attention on getting recent titles like I, Tonya and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Who does it best?

But who’s doing in-flight entertainment best? Emirates, according to the 2017 Skytrax World Airline Awards, in which the Dubai-based airline topped the in-flight entertainment ratings for the 13th year in a row.

It has more than 600 movies and 1000 hours of TV updated every month, available for viewing on 34-centimetre screens in economy and 81-centimetre screens in business class.

Qantas’ entertainment offering is also impressive, with both domestic and international aircraft equipped with in-flight entertainment via the Qantas App, and WiFi set to be rolled out across the entire domestic fleet, allowing for further streaming.

Similarly, Virgin offers domestic in-flight entertainment through an app, while long-haul international flights are fitted with touch-screens.

“With release-date monitoring and shrewd selection, VA often has titles at the same time as a cinema release or close to the same month,” a Virgin spokesperson says.

For Virgin, comedy and action are also winners, plus anything starring Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman.

Singapore Airlines, which came in third behind Qatar Airways in the 2017 World Airline Awards, provides passengers in all classes, on all flights more than 1000 titles via personal screens.

Singapore’s new system also allows for bookmarking, resuming and saving films, as well as receiving recommendations based on viewing history.

Cathay Pacific has focussed its energy on providing so-called ‘box sets’ of television series, plus TED Talks and more than 200 hours of movies, and Etihad promises up to 24 new releases a month, tailored to passenger viewing habits.

Of course, the big downside with in-flight entertainment is censorship – in some parts of the world profanity, sexually explicit scenes, references to bombs, terrorism or plane crashes and even mentions of God can be edited out.

So are you happy to watch an abridged version of a new movie on a smaller screen before it reaches DVD, or willing to wait until it hits Netflix? Happily, the choice is now yours.