On Demand Weekly

ODW rounds up stories affecting the VOD Industry.

Nielsen: Top 10 "Timeshifted" Primetime TV Programs Rank Programs

1 Battlestar Galactica  SYFY 59.4
2 Mad Men AMC 57.7
3 Damages FX 56.3…

Time-Shifting and On Demand TV use continue to rise according to Comcast's annual TV Pulse Survey (8/17/10).

PRESS RELEASE

COMCAST’S ANNUAL “TV PULSE SURVEY” SHOWS THE DRAMA GENRE AND NEW HAWAII FIVE-O ARE THE MOST-ANTICIPATED ‘WHAT TO WATCH’ THIS FALL TV SEASON

Time-Shifted Technology Usage Up More Than 60% from a Year Ago and 80% from Three Years Ago

"Time-shifting has hit the mainstream and is changing the way people watch TV,” said Diana Kerekes, Vice President of Entertainment Services for Comcast. “The results of our ‘TV Pulse Survey’ underscore more consumers are watching their favorite shows when and how they want to watch them."

On Demand Weekly's VOD Spotlight highlights stories in the On Demand industry. Adam Schartoff interviews actor Manish Dayal from the exciting new series"Rubicon" on AMC. Adam spoke to Manish about getting started, the impact of Video On Demand (VOD) on TV and "Rubicon." 
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On Demand Weekly: Is “Rubicon” your first series?
Manish Dayal: In a recurring role, yes.

ODW: How many episodes have you appeared in?
MD: I have been in 3.

ODW: Will you be in further episodes?
MD: Yes. I’m in Season 2. PI hope that we get picked up. I think we will. I think we have a good shot. The show’s been doing really well. I haven’t seen anything recently but the last few episodes have been real exciting. It’s the first time I’ve been in a tv show where I can’t wait until the next week.

ODW: It’s a fun show. The writing is really good. It’s taught. Does it follow or preceded "Mad Men"?
MD: It precedes "Mad Men."

ODW: So, they’re riding your coat tails, I guess you could say.
MD: That’s right. We’re their lead in.

Manish Dayal / Rubicon (AMC)

Media savant T Tara Turk goes deep inside cable TV to reveal Video On Demand's Hidden Gems so even the busiest of our readers can get the most out of On Demand TV. Tell Tara what VOD shows you think deserves her attention.

HELL ON WHEELS (HOW)

By T. Tara Turk

Full disclosure: If HBO’s “Deadwood” had been a band, I would’ve been a Deadwood Head. I would’ve toured around each city watching it on a big screen and jamming to its Western Shakespearean mashed up language like I was at a concert The Roots put on spontaneously. Long before the Brolin/Damon/Bridges TRUE GRIT there was already a gritty, dirty wild west with complicated language, characters you loved to hate and hated to love, and storylines that would make a writer swoon. But, in true HBO fashion, “Deadwood” disappeared into the night without even a note, making Eddie and the Cruisers look like a nursery rhyme. (I’m still pissed about “Rome” ending before Rome even got to fall.)

So I did a jig when I almost barely heard about AMCTV’s “Hell On Wheels” (I mean every other word out of the TV world’s mouth when it comes to AMC is “Mad Men” and “Walking Dead”... what up with that?). The only person I recognized was the rapper Common who has been popping up like Where’s Waldo in movies that demand a gun with a backbone. I get it, Common. You want to be badass and so far it’s been a mixed review but this time he may have found his niche. As a former slave who never believed the Emancipation Proclamation would do anything to improve his life (and he was almost right), Common finally plays a character that kinda makes me scared. Now THAT’S acting!

Media savant T Tara Turk goes deep inside cable TV to reveal Video On Demand's Hidden Gems so even the busiest of our readers can get the most out of On Demand TV. Tell Tara what VOD shows you think deserves her attention.

THE PITCH (VOD Hidden Gem)

By T. Tara Turk

AMC TV should be stand for Advertising Made the Channel TV. Not only is their “Mad Men” a hit (full disclosure: I only have ever watched one episode even though I die for that time period, snappy language by Matt Weiner and the fashions. More than I love that stuff, I hate a bandwagon so I’ll catch up one of these days) but they are taking the theme of advertising to a whole new level by building it as a watchable brand.

“The Pitch” is AMC TV’s new reality show that takes a brand challenge and puts in between two advertising agencies who have to compete for the best campaign. Here’s why I would naturally shy away from this:

1) It sounds boring. Advertising people have a rep for being sale-sy and slightly socially awkward on TV. Why is that interesting to me?

2) It’s not new. Donald Trump has been doing this on “The Apprentice” for quite some time now. Granted, sometimes it’s done with yesteryear celebrities and people who you have to Google to remember why they are “famous” but still they compete all the time and, well, sometimes it’s only good when there’s a fight.

Here’s why I shouldn’t shy away from this at all: