Cablevision offers VOD, DVD simultaneously
Consumers must buy disc with cable purchase
By Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 2/4/2008
FEB. 4 | Cablevision has begun offering on demand movies from Universal Studios and Warner Bros. the same day they debut on DVD with one caveat—viewers must also purchase the movie on disc.
Universal films The Bourne Ultimatum, The Kingdom, Eastern Promises and upcoming release American Gangster all debuted or will debut on the new service simultaneous with their DVD release, 30 to 45 days before they debut on traditional video-on-demand.
Cablevision is offering the films to subscribers through a deal with Popcorn Home Entertainment, a newly launched company headed by former VOD execs. The operator is offering the Popcorn service to all of its 2.6 million customers in the New York area.
Popcorn has deals with Universal and Warner for all new releases and select library titles and is in advanced discussion with two other major studios, CEO Steve Brenner said.
The company buys and ships DVDs to customers, paying Cablevision a split for each movie sold. Users sign up with a credit card for the service at www.optimum.net/click. After, they are able to order films using Cablevision’s set-top box and tuning to channel 500 for Popcorn DVDs On Demand. Once an order is placed, they have 24 hours to watch the film on VOD with the DVD arriving days later.
All new releases sell for $19.95, and catalog films are priced between $9.95 and $15.95. Users also are charged for shipping.
Brenner, the former CEO of VOD provider In Demand, said he doesn’t see the service supplanting Wal-Mart in disc sales, but rather giving consumers a more immediate option for watching a movie.
“At In Demand, we tried to get windows moved up, but the studios do so much better selling DVDs,” Brenner said. “This is nicely positioned to do what’s good for them and good for cable.”
Leading cable company and VOD proponent Comcast first pushed the idea of combining a VOD viewing with a DVD sale in 2005, but the company has yet to make such an offering. Since that time, Comcast has run a test in two markets with five major studios, releasing films on demand the same day they debut on DVD.
Warner said that both VOD buy rates and DVD sales rose in the Comcast test cities, while DVD rentals fell slightly. The studio has begun releasing select films on VOD nationwide with the collapsed window. Other studios have been more reluctant in shortening or closing the window.
Popcorn’s deal with Cablevision isn’t exclusive, and the company wants to offer the VOD/DVD combo to other cable companies.
The service was soft-launched in December while the two companies smoothed out technological issues.
“This is an exciting new service that allows our digital cable customers to watch top new release films weeks before they are widely available for on demand viewing and then own the DVD of their selection,” Cablevision executive VP of digital marketing and commerce Patricia Gottesman said in a statement.
VOD hardware lanscape
As cable companies get more aggressive with VOD, the competition to connect the Internet to the TV also is heating up following a price cut on the Apple TV and more new devices coming that will deliver movies to consumers where they watch them most. Last week, Vudu slashed $100 off the price of its set-top boxes that play Internet downloaded movies on the TV, following Apple’s $70 price cut in mid-January on the Apple TV, which is getting a high-definition upgrade in the next week.
Now Playing:
Apple TV Plays movies and TV shows from Apple’s iTunes service. Apple dropped the price to $229 in January and announced Apple TV 2.0, an update due in the next several weeks that will enable the devices to play high-def movies.
TiVo TiVo has partnered with Amazon Unbox and indie/foreign distributor Jaman to deliver movies and TV shows to its broadband subscribers.
Microsoft Xbox 360 Users can download high-def and standard-def movie rentals and TV shows from the Microsoft Xbox Live Marketplace for viewing on the TV.
Vudu Offers high-def and standard-def movies from the major studios through its peer-to-peer service and proprietary set-top boxes. Boxes sell for $295 after a $100 price cut last month.
Microsoft Windows Media Center PC Works with a number of Extender devices from Linksys, Netgear, D-Link Media Lounge, Xbox 360, portable players from Archos and Creative Zen to stream movies from Vongo and others to the TV.
Hewlett-Packard MediaSmart TV Users can order and watch movies and TV shows from CinemaNow on their TV.
Archos TV Plus Just-launched digital video recorder can download and play movies from companies such as CinemaNow or Amazon Unbox. Starts at $249.
AT&T Homezone Satellite TV service offers niche movie and TV content through Internet movie service Akimbo, which dropped its own proprietary set-top box last year due to dismal sales.
Coming Soon:
LG set-top box LG has partnered with Netflix to deliver the online rental company’s Instant Watch streaming movie service to the TV through set-top boxes due in the second half of the year.
PlayStation 3 Sony said last fall that it plans to launch a music and movie download service for the PS3.
H-P MediaSmart Receiver H-P will launch a Digital Media Receiver this spring that transfers video, photo, music and other files from the computer to the TV.
