on-demand

Here is the second of two round-ups of interactive TV/multiplatform video-related stories we didn't have room for in this issue:

Here are some other interactive TV-related stories we didn't have room for in this issue:

Eurocinema On Demand, a cable, satellite and broadband VOD movie channel devoted to international films, last week announce that it is launching its service on Comcast's On Demand platform. According to Eurocinema--which is owned by EuroMedia Holdings and which has previously launched its VOD service on Time Warner Cable, Charter, Cablevision, RCN, Verizon, DISH Network and DirecTV--the Comcast launch means that its service will reach a combined total of over 31 million North American households. The service is currently available to Comcast customers in Philadelphia and Washington, DC, and is slated to roll out to additional Comcast markets throughout the coming year.

The [itvt] editorial team is currently on the road, so we are covering most stories in round-up/summary form, and we anticipate that there will be some additional interruptions of our regular news publishing schedule beyond that. It will likely take a short while for us to catch up with all the recent news: so if your company has sent us a press release or briefed us on an announcement, and you don't yet see your news covered in this issue, please bear with us. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience to our readers.

Comcast on Tuesday unveiled the line-up of children's programming that it will be offering this summer on its VOD platform and online. According to the company--which claims that its customers watch over 25 million hours of children's VOD programming each month (note: the company says that around 1,500 children's programs are available on Comcast On Demand)--the line-up includes TV series, new-release and classic movies, and programming devoted to family games, fitness, crafts, cooking, magic, dance, drawing lessons and more. "We always have something for everyone in the family, and a lot of it," Diana Kerekes, Comcast's VP of entertainment services, said in a prepared statement.

The [itvt] editorial team is on the road this week, so we are covering most stories in round-up/summary form, and we anticipate that there will be some additional interruptions of our regular news publishing schedule beyond that. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience to our readers.

In a posting on its corporate blog, Wednesday, over-the-top-TV specialist Boxee announced the availability of an app for its platform that provides access to KoldCast TV, an online video service that offers programming in 720p HDTV.

At the IPTV World Forum in London, Tuesday, Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) launched a new software platform that it bills as "allow[ing] people the freedom to watch TV on multiple devices" and as promising "TV on any screen, on-demand." According to the company, the new--as yet apparently unnamed--platform lets operators provide live or on-demand TV to mobiles, Internet-connected computers, and satellite or digital terrestrial platforms; offers an open platform for creating new applications; and provides remote PVR, catch-up TV, operator-to-subscriber messaging, faster channel-changes, and enhanced IPTV picture stability.

MSO Comcast and premium programmer HBO last week announced a partnership that will see the companies promoting HBO's new World War II-themed miniseries, "The Pacific," to Comcast digital subscribers via a range of supplemental VOD content. (Note: the 10-hour miniseries, which will premiere March 14th and which was executive produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman, the team behind the 2001 HBO miniseries, "Band of Brothers," follows the intertwined war experiences of three real-life US Marine veterans of the Pacific Theater, Robert Leckie, Eugene Sledge and John Basilone.)

In a posting on the company's blog last week, Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu--the free, ad-supported broadband video venture co-owned by The Walt Disney Company (ABC), NBC Universal and News Corp. (Fox)--provided some data on Hulu's growth over the past year. According to Kilar:

Cable MSO, Charter Communications, has launched an "on-demand reminder service" that sends customers text or email reminders, alerting them to new movie releases, events and premieres available on its VOD platform. Customers can register to receive the reminders, which are based on both title and category searches, at http://www.charter.net/reminders.

As expected, the BBC governing body, the BBC Trust, has provisionally approved the BBC's further participation in Project Canvas, an initiative on which the corporation is partnering with UK public service broadcasters, ITV, Channel 4 and Five, and UK ISP's, BT and Talk Talk, in order to attempt to develop a common standard and interface for the delivery of online catch-up services such as the BBC iPlayer, the ITV player and 4oD, as well as other Internet-based services (including VOD and interactive TV widgets), to broadband-connected Freeview and Freesat set-top boxes (note: the partn

Shalom TV, a non-profit VOD service devoted to Jewish culture and public affairs (note: pay-TV platforms distributing the service include Comcast, Cox, Verizon FiOS TV, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Bright House, MetroCast, RCN, Service Electric, Buckeye CableSystem, Armstrong Cable and Blue Ridge Communications), contacted [itvt] Monday to let us know that it has secured a carriage deal with Rogers Communications, that sees it offered on the Canadian cable MSO's free Rogers Multicultural On Demand service (channel 800). Rogers' service area includes Toronto, home to Canada's largest Jewish community. According to Shalom TV, the Rogers carriage deal means that it now reaches 37 million North American households.

IP Vision--a company, backed by French set-top box vendor, Netgem, which currently offers a hybrid set-top box, called the FetchTV SmartBox, that combines reception of linear channels from the UK's free-to-air digital terrestrial platform, Freeview, with OTT access to pay-per-view and subscription-based online VOD services, as well as to free, online programming catch-up services such as the BBC iPlayer (note: the company says that the box--which can be connected to any broadband access service--will support BSkyB's Sky Player service early next year)--last week announced plans to offer its FetchTV platform on third-party set-tops

Cable industry-owned VOD content-aggregator, iN Demand, contacted [itvt] Tuesday to let us know that it is offering several free VOD programs on cable systems around the US, as well as two exclusive online documentaries, in order to drive interest in this Saturday's pay-per-view championship boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto.