FilmFlex Launches VOD Service in the U.K.
According to Variety, FilmFlex, a joint venture between Sony Pictures Television International, Walt Disney Television International and the On Demand Group, in launched their new VOD services today. The offering, which serves customers of U.K. cable companies NTL and Telewest, will offer hundreds of new release and back catalog titles. However, according to the article, it looks like VOD technology is lagging across the pond:
[the service] will compete with BSkyB's digital video recorder system, Sky Plus, already in half a million of the satcaster's 7.1 million subscriber homes. While it does not offer VOD, auds can assemble their own viewing schedules including movies.
VOD has been slow to develop in the U.K. due to the lack of technical infrastructure.
Local services are available in London via HomeChoice and in Hull via Kingston Communications. But faster takeup of broadband may change that.
Broadband services of the sort that enable VOD and high-speed internet services have lagged in the UK and throughout Europe over the last several years, but according to several published reports like this, we may see them quickly catch up:
Strategy Analytics' recent report, “Broadband in Europe: Competition Heats Up At Last,” predicts that European countries will boast an average broadband penetration rate of 40 percent by 2008, with countries like Sweden, Switzerland and Belgium seeing penetration rates as high as 60 percent.
With the rapid spread of higher speeds, the marketing needs of telcos and cable providers is shifting:
Broadband marketing is now entering the third phase in its evolution," says Martin Olausson, senior analyst with Strategy Analytics. "Price tiering aimed at different user segments is now widespread, but successful service providers will be those that embrace multiple broadband services such as VoIP and video."
Variety.com - FilmFlex bows VOD services
AOL Gives Away Free Movielink Downloads
In a move to draw more subscribers to their premium services, AOL announced a plan to give away free movie downloads via the Movielink service on Thursday. The deal benefits AOL by helping to stop their eroding subscriber base, while Movielink gets a much-needed boost of attention and users:
AOL said the earlier deal has helped Movielink increase downloads from its 1,000-films strong library by 15 percent. Typically, Movielink charges $4.99 for each film download. "Since our initial partnership with Movielink, we've steadily seen increased usage among the AOL for Broadband community," Steven Yee, vice president and general manager of AOL Movies and Moviefone.com, said in a statement.
As household broadband connections penetrate the 50% percent mark, and with the inevitable shift of Internet video into the living room, rapid growth of the sector is expected:
Internet companies are aiming to fuel demand for subscription video services, a market that's expected to grow from about $991 million in 2003 to more than $4.5 billion in 2007, according to recent research from In-Stat/MDR.
That's a pretty big pie.
AOL offers broadband subscribers free flicks | Tech News on ZDNet
Bollywood titles fill On Demand Niche
Seasonal and topical themed collections aren't anything new to VOD, but New York-based 212 Media and Schramm Sports & Entertainment have upped the ante with 'Bollywood on Demand.' Their special collection features Bollywood movies, series and other special events on the Comcast and Time Warner Systems. A quick survey of the MMB's own Time Warner box shows a nice selection currently available.
As VOD offerings increase, packaging offerings as niche collections will boost repeat purchases and drive program loyalty. If you look at the DVD business as an example, you'll notice that the companies with the greatest brand loyalty specialize in "enhanced collections. The fans of companies like The Criterion Collection will buy an unknown title purely on the strength of the brand. While they may not bring in huge sales figures like a Columbia/Tri-Star, their editorial expertise and emphasis on quality has helped Criterion build a sizable measure of trust with their consumer base. I guarantee you that when DVD growth drops from 44% this year to around 8% in 2008, Criterion will still show steady, stable growth with intense brand loyalty.
So what can VOD marketers learn from DVD niche marketing? If anything, the shift to a la carte offerings means that the studio brand will become increasingly important -- better to be the master of your genre (i.e. Dimension) than a broad-based player. We may see a mini 'balkanization' at the studios as branding grows in importance. Why? It's simple -- if you have to pick from thousands of unknown titles, genre signifiers will be truly important. And to all of you indie moguls-in-waiting, I say to you: pick an underserved niche, and ensure you lock up PPV and internet rights!
As an aside, I would also expect third-party information providers (like Muze or Rotten Tomatoes) to grow in importance as they will eventually become integrated into VOD menu systems. Look for a major deal in that space in the coming months...
'Bollywood on Demand' on US cable - Indiantelevision.com's Breaking News
VOD Strategies Compared
According to TVweek.com, the video-on-demand battle for mind share has heated up. Their recent article analyzing the competition arising from satellite's DVR push gives some interesting insights into recent VOD strategy changes. A quick summary:
Universal Television is considering reducing the VOD release window to day-and-date parity on select titles, with the remaining windows being reduced from 45 to 30 days or less.
TV Guide Channel is creating special 2 minute promos to boost VOD buy rates. Preliminary testing shows a 39% increase in buys.
Mag Rack utilizes local, affinity marketing events to draw niche viewers like the recent event promoting 'School of Rock.'
So far I'm most impressed with the day-and-date parity approach from Universal. How long before we see overlapping theatrical/VOD releases? The recent success of a concurrent theatrical/DVD release of 'Lost in Translation' shows that it may be viable.
Related Link:
TelevisionWeek -- Media and Television Technology
