Home Media Magazine - December 9, 2007 - (Page 36) NEWS www.homemediamagazine.com Comcast CFO Bullish on VOD By Erik Gruenwedel VOD Cable operator Comcast Corp. last week said on-demand viewing among its subscribers continues to grow meteorically. The Philadelphia-based company said it has registered 6 billion on-demand views in less than four years, including 1 billion hours of ondemand content viewed in 2007. Comcast said on-demand consumption, which includes free and video-on-demand movies, TV and music, averaged 250 million views per month, or 100 views each second, in 2007. “That skyrocketing usage demonstrates the importance [of on-demand] to consumers,” said Derek Harrar, SVP and GM of video services for Comcast. Speaking to an investment conference in Rivals Unite at Hall of Fame New York, Michael Angelakis, EVP, GM and Co-CFO, said Comcast would spend a “significant amount” of money in 2008 marketing and distributing an HD digital video recorder, which he said generates positive incremental revenue and decreases consumer churn. “I’m very bullish on that particular component,” Angelakis said. “We need to take the high ground on HD. I think we have a great HD service considering the number of HD channels and VOD offerings on cable.” While not directly mentioning ongoing tests with studios for new-release movies on VOD the same day as DVD, Angelakis said network television on-demand rebroadcasts in HD are on the rise. “My kids watch ‘CSI’ religiously on VOD,” he said. Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes (left) hands rival Netflix CEO and founder Reed Hastings a mock membership to Blockbuster’s Total Access service during the Video Hall of Fame awards held Dec. 3 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. The two companies have been locked in a battle in the online rent-by-mail business. Along with Hastings, Lionsgate president Steve Beeks and Bill O’Brien, co-founder of Video Business, were inducted into the Video Hall of Fame. Iger: TV Viewing on Web Growing Continued from page 8 «WE ARE COMPETING FOR PEOPLE’S TIME AND MONEY WITH ENTITIES THAT DIDN’T EXIST FIVE, 10 YEARS AGO.» BOB IGER, DISNEY CEO on the Internet represents a different opportunity and challenge than movies. The CEO said television viewing on the Internet continues to grow. He said ABC.com has streamed more than 200 million episode views since launching less than two years ago. “That doesn’t mean 200 million people watched entire TV shows,” Iger said. “But they started watching, and that’s significant. You are providing people with the opportunity to own more SKUs than they would have previously [with DVD].” He said third-party data suggested online viewers constitute a more-engaged audience compared to network TV viewers. “Their commitment to watching more [content] in- creases,” he said. Separately, Iger said the ongoing writers strike underscores coming to terms with changing distribution models and production costs not aligned with traditional encumbrances. He said the studios haven’t determined the economic model for electronic sellthrough and streaming. Iger also said the studios are trying to create content for differing media formats at substantially altered costs. “We are competing for people’s time and money with entities that didn’t exist five, 10 years ago,” Iger said. “That changes how we make these programs and how we pay for them. We have to be careful about that.” B RIEFS I FREMANTLE AND ACORN MEDIA IN DEAL ON ‘FANNY HILL’ FremantleMedia Enterprises and Acorn Media Group have joined forces. The companies will bring the controversial Fanny Hill to DVD in the United States in 2008. First creating controversy earlier this year on the BBC, the film is based on the 18th century novel Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, and was adapted for the screen by Andrew Davies, of Bridget Jones’ Diary fame. Fanny Hill stars Samantha Bond (Miss Moneypenny in the Pierce Brosnan James Bond films) and Hugo Speer (The Full Monty) in a tale about an orphan girl who joins a London brothel and uses her wares to climb the social ladder. “Fanny Hill has all the right ingredients to be a star performer on DVD in America,” said Acorn Media U.S. president Mark Stevens. “Fanny Hill is one of the finest British period dramas in years,” said Jeff Siegel, FremantleMedia VP of home entertainment for the United States. — Chris Tribbey Anna Faris (Scary Movie) and John Krasinkski (“The Office”); Day of the Dead (Mena Suvari); Finding Rin Tin Tin, with Ben Cross (Chariots of Fire); and The Amateurs, with Jeff Bridges and Ted Danson, are earmarked for theatrical distribution first. The remaining movies will be released on Canadian TV, including Animal, with Ving Rhames; Stateside, with Val Kilmer; Relative Strangers, with Danny DeVito; Journey to the End of the Night (Brendan Fraser); and Demi Moore in Half Light. “We believe that each of these well-made films will resonate with a sizable audience in the Canadian market,” said Berry Meyerowitz, president of Peace Arch Home Entertainment. — Erik Gruenwedel I VCI DONATES DVDS TO TROOPS IN IRAQ THROUGH BLUE STAR MOTHERS VCI Entertainment has donated more than 200 A Christmas Carol DVDs to the Blue Star Mothers of Oklahoma to send to U.S. troops in Iraq. The DVDs were shipped with care packages that include cards, candy and special mementos. Blue Star Mothers of Oklahoma is a branch of the Blue Star Mothers of America, a military support group. “Our troops are doing so much for us, even missing Christmas with their loved ones, we thought it would be a special treat for them to have a piece of home and watch a movie so they too can enjoy this time of year,” said VCI VP Don Blair. — John Latchem CLASSIFIED SHOWCASE USED TAPES & DVDS I PEACE ARCH ENTERTAINMENT BROADENS ITS FIRST LOOK DEAL Peace Arch Entertainment said it has acquired Canadian rights to 32 movies from First Look Studios. The Toronto-based production and distribution company, which in February inked an exclusive DVD distribution deal for First Look product in Canada, plans to expand distribution of the movies to include theatrical, video-on-demand and television. Five of the titles, An American Crime, with Catherine Keener and James Franco; Smiley Faces, with TO ADVERTISE, CONTACT: Kurt Wohlman (714) 338-6749 kwohlman@questex.com www.homemediamagazine.com 36 Home Media Magazine December 9–15, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://ABC.com http://www.homemediamagazine.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.