Playboy Seeks VOD Parity
By Mike Farrell -- Multichannel News, 4/1/2007 6:00:00 PM MT
New York — New York— Playboy Enterprises CEO Christie Hefner wants cable operators to step up to the marketing plate behind her company’s Playboy TV subscription video-on-demand product, packaging the adult-themed service with those of other premium channels, like Home Box Office and Showtime.
But Playboy TV figures to have a tough hill to climb, given that cable operators have historically offered little support to adult channels and may not want to draw attention to what some groups could perceive as too-racy fare.
Still, Hefner believes that “they [operators] need to let consumers know it’s there,” she said after her presentation at the Banc of America Securities Media, Telecommunications & Entertainment Conference here last week. She cited DirecTV, which has a channel on its service that allows customers to order Playboy TV’s SVOD service through their remote controls, as an example.
Hefner would like cable operators to go even further, offering Playboy TV as part of a package of other premium channels.
“We want to be in packages,” Hefner said, adding that operators already market discount packages of two or more premium channels. “We should be one of those options. So it should be Playboy and Showtime and HBO and whatever.”
Cable operators traditionally have offered virtually no marketing help for adult channels, despite it being one of the biggest profit centers. It is estimated that operators receive about 70% of the retail revenue from Playboy TV. But the growing controversy over what some legislators and special interest groups perceive as too much sex and violence on basic-cable channels could make operators even more hesitant to draw increased attention to Playboy TV.
Hefner said she has been in contact with the nation’s two largest cable operators — Comcast and Time Warner Cable — but declined to detail those discussions. However, she said operators are not recoiling from the notion of stepping up marketing for Playboy TV.
“We don’t get push-back. It’s just a question of when you do it,” Hefner said.
For its part, Time Warner Cable offered no official comment on Hefner’s remarks, while spokeswoman Jenni Moyer said Comcast has no plans to begin marketing Playboy TV.
Hefner’s argues that Playboy TV, which is more lifestyle-oriented, is different from more explicit channels like Spice and The Erotic Network. She likened the channel to late-night fare on HBO or Showtime.
“An HBO/Playboy package is about as logical a package as in Sirius [Satellite Radio] the Howard Stern package is,” Hefner said. “For some time, it’s been obvious that the consumer understands the difference between the adult offerings and Playboy.”
Hefner Pushes Playboy SVOD Service
03/28/2007
