--Report: Sony Set to Launch Online/OTT VOD Service, Qriocity
Concert.TV, a free VOD service which is devoted to live music performances, music documentaries and music "lifestyle" programming and which is carried by Comcast, Cox, Charter, Verizon FiOS TV, Insight, DISH Network and DirecTV (giving it a reach of approximately 30 million homes), on Monday announced a media content partnership with Guitar World magazine. According to Concert.TV, as a result of the deal, new content from Guitar World's "vast" video archive will appear on its service every month, including interviews with high-profile guitarists ranging from blues icon, Buddy Guy, to Metallica's Kirk Hammett.
The first installment of Guitar World content is slated to launch on Concert.TV February 15th, and will include exclusive interviews with the bands Slayer, Living Colour and Five Finger Death Punch. Additional upcoming content, according to Concert.TV, will focus on Kings of Leon, Alice in Chains, John Mayer, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Night Ranger and others. "We are very excited for this opportunity to have our branded video content distributed nationally on such a high-quality digital TV platform," Guitar World publisher, Greg Di Benedetto, said in a prepared statement. "Concert.TV has redefined the at-home music viewing experience and provides us with an even more targeted audience, with greater reach for our marketing partners and advertisers." Added Concert.TV CEO, Joe Covey: "As the leading publication for guitar players and fans, Guitar World's video content will be very attractive to Concert.TV's demographic. This partnership will give fans access to rarely viewed footage and interviews of their favorite guitar heroes at their leisure."
In other VOD-related news: Sony is set to launch an online/OTT VOD service, called Qriocity, next month, according to a report by Christopher MacManus of Sony Insider. The service's "significance is so strong that it will be added as a main icon on the XMB and as a button on many 2010 Sony remote controls that belong to networked TV's and Blu-ray players," MacManus reports. "You can see the movie titles when you enter the store through a great looking interface with rich album art," he continues. "At the main menu is the option to go to Media Library, Choose Account, Search, New Releases, Genre, and Most Popular. You can log in with your PSN account, and have multiple accounts for parents and children. There will be the ability for master accounts to control sub accounts so your children don't access the content you don't want them to." The service features adaptive bitrate streaming and is expected to have "hundreds" of HD and SD titles from Sony Pictures, as well as from 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Walt Disney Pictures, Lionsgate, Warner Bros., Universal and MGM. Sony Insider's video of the new service is embedded above.
