Comcast, Fox Sports Detroit and the Detroit Tigers Launch Tigers On Demand

Comcast, Fox Sports Detroit and the Detroit Tigers baseball team announced Friday that they have launched a VOD service, called Fox Sports Detroit: Tigers On Demand, that is being made available throughout Comcast's Michigan systems. The service, which is offered at no additional charge in a dedicated section of the "Get Local" section of Comcast On Demand, allows viewers to access for a limited window the most recent Detroit Tigers game telecast in its entirety, two hours after its broadcast, and also features a range of other Detroit Tigers-themed programming, including: programming on "baseball memories," featuring Ernie Harwell; "Remembering the Bird," Fox Sports Detroit's "Tigers Weekly" special on former Tigers pitching star, Mark Fidrych; a 2005 episode of "FSN Basement: All-Star Edition" that features conversations with "Tigers legends," Al Kaline and George Kell; and "Your Tiger Ticket," a Comcast-exclusive 30-minute program covering behind-the-scenes stories about the Tigers organization. Comcast, Fox Sports Detroit and the Detroit Tigers say that they will add more content to the new service throughout the remainder of the current season and beyond.

In other recent VOD news:

• ReelzChannel, a cable channel devoted to movie-related content, is providing DirecTV with programming packages designed to aid the satellite-TV provider's VOD marketing efforts. According to the companies, the packages consist of informative two- to four-minute segments gleaned from ReelzChannel's programming library, including behind-the-scenes reports, celebrity interviews, fan reactions and more. Each edited segment will focus on one of DirecTV's top 10 to 12 VOD titles for a given month, and the companies say that content providers will also be able to use the content as a component of their monthly VOD promotional strategies. "ReelzChannel has found that movie-lovers respond strongly to our creative and informative coverage of movies," John deGarmo, ReelzChannel's SVP of affiliate relations, said in a prepared statement. "We're excited to team up with DirecTV and offer our distinctive programming to their VOD viewers in this fresh and exciting way."
• Satellite-TV provider, DISH Network, announced Thursday that it has signed a PPV and VOD deal with Image Entertainment, an independent licensee and distributor of entertainment programming. "DISH Network is excited to bring even more PPV and VOD offerings to our already substantial collection of more than 6,000 titles," DISH Network VP of programming, Andy Karofsky, said in a prepared statement. "Image Entertainment offers a great selection of HD movies, television series, comedy specials, and other sought-after programming we're confident our viewers will enjoy."
• According to a report by Variety's Jennifer Netherby last week, Warner Bros. is "positioning itself to be a major digital distributor of independent movies through cable video-on-demand services worldwide," and has signed deals with Image, Gravitas Ventures and a handful of other independent content providers--including First Look Studios, Full Moon Entertainment, Lantern Lane Entertainment, Marvista Entertainment, Oscilloscope Laboratories and Wolfe Video--to distribute their feature films and documentaries on pay-TV systems in the US and internationally. According to Netherby, Warner will manage encoding and digitization, promotion and marketing, and sales tracking for its new indie VOD partners. Thomas Gewecke, president of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution told Netherby that the company's efforts are motivated by a growing demand for VOD content.
• In its second-quarter financial results, UK cable operator Virgin Media stated that 55% (1.9 million) of its digital customers used its VOD service in Q2, compared to 48% for the year-ago quarter; and that, during the quarter, it saw its highest-ever average monthly VOD views: 62 million, vs. 38 million for the year-ago quarter. The company also said that average views per user per month were 32.1, compared to 23.8 for the year-ago quarter.