--New "More m*ovies on Demand" Service to Offer over 1,500 Titles
Time Warner Cable has partnered with cable industry-owned VOD content-aggregator, iN DEMAND (note: the latter's shareholders are Comcast, Cox, Advance/Newhouse and Time Warner Cable itself), on a VOD service, called "More m*ovies on Demand," that is initially being offered to digital customers of the MSO's Greensboro, North Carolina systems; it is scheduled to launch on other Time Warner Cable systems sometime this year, and iN DEMAND is also expected to eventually offer a version of the service to other cable operators. According to Time Warner Cable, the service--which is programmed and delivered by iN DEMAND--has tripled the number of titles available on-demand to its digital customers in Greenboro: the MSO says that each month it will expand the number of titles on offer, and that it expects the new service to have over 1,500 titles by mid-2007, thus "creating a virtual video store environment at home for the digital cable customer."
According to Time Warner Cable, the first phase of the More m*ovies on Demand launch will see the service offering hundreds of library titles from major Hollywood studios, organized into two genre channels, entitled "Family m*ovies" and "Classic m*ovies" respectively. "Classic m*ovies" organizes its offerings into such sub-categories as "Comedy," "Drama," "Action," "Sci-Fi," "Romance" and "Indies"; while "Family m*ovies" organizes its titles into such categories as "Barbie," "Big Hits," "Family," "Fantasy" and "Furry & Fuzzy." Each genre channel will offer seasonal categories that change month to month (such as a category for Christmas-themed m*ovies that was offered over the recent holiday period). The new service also features a promotional channel that provides previews of the m*ovies on offer and that promotes seasonal offerings and other specials. Titles are priced at $1.95 each (compared to the $3.95 that Time Warner Cable charges for new-release VOD m*ovies), with selected "specials" offered at $0.99 each. In addition, the service will offer monthly promotions featuring themed and discounted classic movie bundles.
To promote the initial launch of "More m*ovies on Demand" in Greensboro, Time Warner Cable organized an extensive local marketing effort that included cross-channel spots, direct mail, free-trial coupons and other promotions. "As the industry pioneer in video-on-demand, it is natural that Time Warner Cable would be the first to introduce the ultimate virtual video store to its customers," Bob Benya, the MSO's SVP of VOD and interactive TV product development, said in a prepared statement. "This new 'More m*ovies on Demand' feature will give our customers all the depth of selection and access to library titles, which the corner video store used to offer, but it will be more convenient and economical."
Originally Published: January 2, 2006 in [itvt] Issue 7.12 Part 3
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