On Demand Weekly

Did you know you are part of 40 million strong and growing? There are over 40 million US households with Video On Demand (VOD) via cable and it’s projected to grow to over 60 million by 2011! That’s more than Netflix subscribers and Wii owners combined [CAN YOU THINK OF ANOTHER HOME ENTERTAINMENT OPTION?]. This makes VOD one of the fastest growing home entertainment options and nobody is talking about it. Until now…
On Demand Weekly (ODW) is the first and only online publication dedicated to the rising VOD consumer market. There were over 3 billion VOD orders in 2008. They consisted of your favorite TV Shows, Movies, Sports, Kids Programming, Music Videos and so much more. But with so many VOD programming options available to the digital cable subscriber, the messaging and choices can be confusing. ODW is here to simplify and promote VOD with the following features:

What do Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers and a Horror film have in common? Are they going to star as unwitting prey in a horror film? No, but I’ll reserve judgment on whether they should or not for now. Their films are breaking ground for 3D video-on-demand (VOD) to the home via Comcast.

• Last August, Comcast tested the 3D format with Hannah Montana: The Best of Both Worlds.
• Lionsgate’s My Bloody Valentine was offered to subscribers in July
• Disney returns with Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience [date tbd].

The Video on Demand (VOD) category continues to expand. In July 2009 alone, there were more than 655 Million transactions.* An increase over June 2009 of 11%. If you’re watching VOD, you’re part of a fast-growing trend. The Free offerings continue to lead the VOD growth:

Rentrak Corporation, the media measurement company, reported that the number of Total Free On Demand transactions soared to a record 476 million in July. (Rentrak Corporation}

INSIDE PREMIUM will keep you up-to-date on the Premieres, Finales, and everything in between that is available at your choosing on Premium VOD. This Week

• Bored to Death Premiere
• Nurse Jackie Sneak Peek
• Doubt Sneak Peek…

VOD not only offers PPV Movies that screened in theaters months ago, but they have partnered with cutting edge, independent film distributors to bring you films the SAME DAY AS THEATRES. Whether you want to see films made outside the Hollywood system or future stars in breakout performances, see the latest from the film festival circuit in the comfort of your own home.

Premiering This Week: September 14 – 20, 2009

SUNDANCE SELECTS ON DEMAND

UNMADE BEDS (93 min)

Young, attractive and misguided youth from all over Europe descend to a squatters apartment in London in this stylish and sexy film. Be the first on your block to say you saw captivating young actors Deborah Francois and Fernando Tielve, before they become well known. (Rated R) $6.99. Available until 11/17/2009

                                                                                                                                                                                  The Wrap (11/03/10)

ODW rounds up stories affecting the VOD Industry.

 

Comcast boasts new releases on-demand, same day as DVD

Comcast announced ten blockbuster movies available this month on-demand, day-and-date with the Blu-ray and DVD releases. Some titles available simultaneously with disc releases include The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,  Brüno, and Angels & Demons, and all available in both standard and high-definition quality... (HD Report)

Why VOD is turning into a profitable avenue for indie filmmakers

VOD is certainly here to stay and growing at 20 percent annually, according to recent industry estimates, which has prompted more and more distribution companies, from the biggest studios to the smallest indies, to stake their future on it... (Filmmaker Magazine)

Success stories for video-on-demand

Low-budget supernatural thriller "Dark Mirror" premiered at the New York Latino Film Fest in 2007. Since then, it hasn't played in a single U.S. theater, but it's become the top-selling title in IFC's video-on-demand library, racking up an estimated 110,000-120,000 buys... (Variety)
 

ODW rounds up stories affecting the VOD Industry.

 

Cox Time-Shifts NBC In High-Def

Cox Communications has added six of NBC's primetime shows in high-definition to its MyPrimetime VOD service, which provides on-demand access to TV programs starting the day after they air... (MultiChannel News)
 

November has more day-and-date releases than ever before

The month of November will see more films debut on video-on-demand the same day as DVD than ever before, and for anyone who has cable or satellite or just happens to catch a DVD commercial, the message will be hard to ignore... (Video Business)

 

The DVR vs Internet Video

The full feature DVR is the killer of all boxes designed to integrate internet video into traditional TV viewing...  (Mark Cuban)

ODW rounds up stories affecting the VOD Industry.

From the arthouse to your house

…thanks to video on demand (VOD), cable TV subscribers now can watch some of the latest indie films from the comfort of their own couch. (Star Tribune)

 

The undignified near-death of Miramax

…companies like Magnolia, Sony Pictures Classics, IFC and Zeitgeist, who focus on marketing quality films to niche audiences, are now in a stronger position. (Salon)

 

Comcast Spotlight's "Video Circulars On Demand" Converts Retailers' Print Advertising into VOD Assets

Comcast's advertising sales arm, Comcast Spotlight, on Wednesday announced a new service, called Video Circulars On Demand, which takes retailers' print advertising materials--including weekly newspaper inserts ("circulars"), display ads and catalogs--and converts them into on-demand video slideshows. (iTVt)

On Demand Weekly (ODW) continues our Filmmaker Spotlight series focusing on filmmakers distributing their film via Video On Demand (VOD). I recently spoke with Chris Smith (AMERICAN MOVIE), the director of COLLAPSE, FilmBuff (On Demand)’s new documentary (available on VOD December 6th).

ODW was interested in the making of the film and his perspective on VOD as an entertainment option.

 

On Demand Weekly: Your film opens with a card stating you met the subject for COLLAPSE, Michael Ruppert, for another project. How soon after meeting him did you know you had the makings of a documentary around Ruppert and did you have to convince him to do the film?
Chris Smith: It was about two or three weeks after our initial meeting that we wrote to Michael pitching him this idea.  He was pretty much onboard once he read the treatment.

ODW: There are lots of people with strong points of view on the film's main topic. Why Michael Ruppert?

ODW rounds up stories affecting the VOD Industry.
 

Thanksgiving weekend had highest transactions in history

By far the biggest VOD rental boost came Thanksgiving weekend, when Four Christmases, Angels & Demons, G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra and Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs all debuted on VOD. “Thanksgiving week was our single highest week ever for transactional movies and VOD,” Comcast senior VP and general manager of video and entertainment services Derek Harrar said.…(Video Business)
 

 

Pushing VOD to the Edge

Comcast's Project Infinity, for example, is aiming to vastly scale up the amount of video on demand to someday deliver 100,000 or more choices, at least five times what the operator currently offers....(MultiChannel News)
 

 

Web-TV Divide Is Back in Focus With NBC Sale

“Hollywood needs a toll collector,” said Todd Dagres of the venture capital firm Spark Capital, and “Comcast can play the part because online video will erode traditional cable.”:..(New York Times)

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…

On Demand Weekly rounds up stories affecting the On Demand TV / VOD Industry.

Netflix Bends To Warner Bros., Won't Rent DVDs For 28 Days After They Go On Sale
This will please the movie industry: Netflix has agreed to a 28-day window before it rents Warner Bros. DVDs and Blu-ray discs after they go on sale. The idea is that this will allow Warner Bros. to sell more discs, which is more lucrative than rentals.... (Silicon Alley Insider)

 

Think the Internet Will Replace Cable ? Read this first

Its going to be cheaper to have the big traditional cable distributors offer your content to viewers than it will be to reach a large audience on the net. Thats for a one time offering. If you plan on doing it more than once or on a regularly scheduled basic, there is no question its cheaper to do it this way. And the picture quality will be dramatically better… (Mark Cuban)

 

Thinking Outside the Box: Web TVs Skirt Cable Giants
In the meantime, they insist that cable-cutting is more urban myth than reality. "We see some interesting stuff out there, but right now people are watching more TV than ever; cable-cutting is largely on the fringe," said Alex Dudley, spokesman for Time Warner Cable, the nation's No. 2 operator.....(Ad Age)

On Demand Weekly rounds up stories affecting the On Demand TV / VOD Industry.Industry.
 

Talking About a Revolution (for a Digital Age)

This year’s Sundance was abuzz about entries that were available for rental on YouTube or through video on demand during the festival, as filmmakers try out new ways to make an impact. These small-screen efforts have met with skepticism even while reaping the expected publicity, because it’s unclear how they might affect a movie’s distribution chances post-festival.

Now, as the independent cinema nurses its Hollywood hangover, the future remains unclear even as one message is getting louder: It is time to blow the whole thing up..... (New York Times)
 

Sundance: Is video-on-demand the future of indie film? For titles like 'The Freebie' and 'Bass Ackwards,' yes
I can say that Bass Ackwards will be available in millions of homes in exactly four days, on Feb. 1, via cable VOD. It’s the kind of truly and redemptively quirky cinema that adventurous moviegoers will be grateful to see. And happy to demand… (EW)
 

Film Execs look at the state of Indie Distribution
“People go to the movies to get away from their daily lives. What is selling now is comfort food movies. We have had movies that did under $20,000 at the box office but did a million dollars in sales on VOD” – Eamonn Bowles, President, Magnolia Pictures ...  (The Global Film Village)
 

The Doctors Are In: Sundance Ponders New Distribution Solutions
Based on general information garnered among a variety of sources, it’s widely known that in some cases VOD can generate as many as 200,000 buys on the highest end for the sort of films released by companies in this sector... (Indiewire)