Comcast Increases VOD Movie Line-Up by over 450%

Comcast announced Tuesday that it is expanding the number of movie choices available through its VOD service over 450%, by adding nearly 9,000 titles. This, the company says, will bring more than 11,000 total movie choices to customers each month, with 3,000 available in HD; and will bring the total number of titles on Comcast On Demand to over 25,000. The increase in movie content is slated to launch in Comcast's Xfinity markets in Philadelphia and Washington, DC, and will then continue rolling out to Comcast digital customers across the US. According to the company, it is made possible by "a new content storage and distribution system via Comcast's extensive fiber network." "It's the biggest thing we've ever done in On Demand," Derek Harrar, Comcast's SVP and general manager of video and entertainment services, said in a prepared statement. "We're revolutionizing our service with a system that is capable of delivering infinite choice. This is another important step in bringing consumers the multiplatform experience they want." (Note: Comcast CEO, Brian Roberts, delivered a keynote at the NCTA Cable Show Tuesday in which he discussed the MSO's expansion of its VOD line-up, its "TV Everywhere" plans, and its view of the "cord-cutting" phenomenon, among other things. Light Reading Cable's Jeff Baumgartner and NewTeeVee's Ryan Lawler have more.)

In other VOD news:

• VOD distribution services provider, Avail-TVN, has announced plans to launch a suite of 3D programming services by the end of the year for both VOD and linear. Operators will have access to transactional 3D VOD content and a companion free-on-demand service, both in stereoscopic 3D, the company says. In addition, the company is planning to launch two linear 3D channels: a transactional pay-per-view channel offering movies, concerts, events and sports programming; and a free-to-the-consumer promotional 3D channel offering features, documentaries, music and specialty programming, that Avail-TVN says will "allow consumers to test their 3D sets and glasses." The company says it is developing its 3D services to work with its customers' existing infrastructure: its 3D VOD offerings will work with existing set-top boxes with minor over-the-air software updates, the company promises. "Commercializing a scalable 3D service for the industry requires coordination between content producers, operators, and technology vendors," Avail-TVN CTO, Michael Kazmier, said in a prepared statement. "Our focus has been to bring these partners together in an integrated fashion so that we can deliver a broad selection of 3D programming--transactional and free--for consumers to enjoy on their new 3D TV's." Avail-TVN's new 3D services are slated to launch during the fourth quarter.
• BT has announced the launch of the BT Vision Film Club on its Microsoft Mediaroom-powered hybrid IPTV/DTT service, BT Vision. "BT Vision Film Club brings together a range of film services from major Hollywood studios: there will be over 60 films available every month with 14 films refreshed every week," the company says in its press materials. "It brings together Picturebox, with access to great films such as 'Untraceable,' 'The Other Boleyn Girl' and 'Nanny McPhee'; WarnerFilms, a brand new service, offering a great selection of recent movies and library titles from the Studio's vast collection, which will include 'Cats and Dogs,' 'Goodfellas,' 'Music and Lyrics,' 'The Wedding Singer' and 'Batman Begins'; Sony Pictures Television with Hollywood greats such as 'Candyman' and 'The Cable Guy'; and quality independent titles from Film4OD such as 'Elizabeth' and 'Shallow Grave.' Film fans can subscribe to Film Club for £6.99 a month or as an option within BT Vision's Bronze, Silver and Gold viewing packages. Alternatively customers can choose to subscribe to Picturebox or WarnerFilms alone for £4.99 per month each."
• SeaChange has announced commercial availability of its Intelligent Video Platform 2.0, which it says now includes support for Adobe's new Flash Player 10.1 software and Flash Access 2.0 content protection; integrates Envivio's 4Caster C42 encoders; and enables HTTP live and on-demand streaming to the Apple iPad. "The open Intelligent Video Platform combines SeaChange's market-leading standards-based Axiom On Demand content delivery system with its Axiom Adrenalin mobile video system to form a modular solution to deliver video-on-demand and advanced advertising to any screen, anywhere, using a single, integrated platform," the company states in its press materials. "Several SeaChange Axiom On Demand cable television customers in the Americas, Europe and Asia are preparing to deploy the Intelligent Video Platform in support of multiscreen video initiatives. SeaChange anticipates announcing these deployments later this year."
• Ericsson has announced that its MediaPath Secure Content Delivery System has been selected by Cox Communications for receiving and distributing content to its VOD library. "Ericsson's team worked with us closely to launch the secure central distribution system on a very tight timeline," James Kelso, Cox's VP of video engineering, said in a prepared statement. "The system has reduced our operating costs and gives us more control and flexibility in managing the On Demand content that our sites receive."
• Comcast Media Center has announced that it has added Mediacom and 10 smaller cable operators to its VOD content distribution footprint. It says that it is now delivering VOD programming to 40 million VOD-enabled households.