--Teams with Pentagon Channel to Offer VOD Coverage of US Service Academy Graduations
Cable MSO, Comcast, announced Thursday that it has teamed with the Connecticut State Police to launch its Police Blotter On Demand service in Connecticut. The new VOD service--which is an implementation of a service that Comcast originally launched with the Philadelphia Police Department back in 2006 (note: that year, it also teamed with the Maryland State Police to launch a similar service, called "Fugitive Files On Demand"), and which is located in its VOD platform's "Get Local" category--invites digital cable customers to help bring fugitives to justice and solve unsolved crimes. It presents viewers with photographs and short descriptions of 10 different cold cases: viewers who think they have information about a featured fugitive or unsolved crime are directed to call the Connecticut State Police and, according to Comcast, will have the option of remaining anonymous. All the featured cases involve violent crimes, Comcast says. "We remain committed to promoting public safety and providing On Demand programming that is meaningful to our local community," Michael Parker, VP for Comcast in Connecticut, said in a prepared statement. "This new service presents an opportunity to leverage the reach and popularity of On Demand to expose unsolved crimes or suspects to a wider audience and increase chances of their apprehension."
In related news: Earlier this week, Comcast announced that its Eastern Division is once again teaming with the Pentagon Channel to offer VOD coverage of US Service Academy graduation ceremonies (including the graduation ceremonies of the US Naval Academy, the US Military Academy at West Point, and the US Air Force Academy). The coverage will be available to digital customers in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC and West Virginia, and will be accessed through a dedicated "Commencements" folder within the "College Programming" folder of the "Get Local" category. "For the second year in a row, Comcast is pleased to make such significant and poignant programming available to the thousands of servicemembers and their families across our footprint," Michael Ortman, VP of programming for Comcast's Eastern Division, said in a prepared statement. "Through our signature On Demand platform, we are able to give customers, who might not have witnessed these ceremonies live, an opportunity to revel in the accomplishments of their loved ones and experience it on their own schedule--all with just a few simple clicks of the remote." Comcast also offers a VOD service, called "Troop Greetings On Demand," that allows military personnel stationed overseas to send holiday greetings to their families and friends.
