Boffo Backing for VOD

Operators Unveil $30 Million Ad Campaign for Same-Day Titles

By Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 3/22/2010 8:04:16 AM

Cable operators and studios have teamed to launch an unprecedented $30 million marketing and promotional campaign over the next three months targeted at building awareness for on-demand movies.

With many top box-office films appearing on video-on-demand lineups at the same time as they hit home-video shelves, the multitiered campaign — titled “The Video Store Just Moved In” — will tout how fun and easy it is for digital- cable customers to view movies in their homes, rather than trudging out to the video store.

“We’ve been excited about movies on-demand from the cable operator perspective for a long time but, for a host of reasons, the studios have been focused on selling their product for home consumption through other distribution outlets,” Time Warner Cable chief financial officer Rob Marcus told Multichannel News. “It’s been a logical proposition for a long time in that it’s a much better customer experience than renting from a traditional rental outfit.”

Developed in association with the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing Co-op, operators participating in the campaign include Armstrong, Bend Broadband, Bright House Networks, Cablevision Systems, Comcast, Cox Communications, Insight Communications and Time Warner Cable. The studio partners include 20th Century Fox, Focus Features, Lionsgate, Rogue, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Summit Entertainment, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Spurring the campaign is the continued increase of movies debuting on VOD schedules at the same time as they do in home video stores. More than 100 VOD movies debuted on a day-anddate basis with home video last year, and this month a record 20 films — including the Twilight sequel New Moon and Academy Award winning film Precious: Based on the Novel ‘ Push’ by Sapphire — are debuting simultaneously on VOD and home video.

Over the last two years, there has been more than a seven-fold increase in the number of dayand- date titles offered to digital cable customers nationally, according to VOD content aggregator In Demand.

Jamie McCabe, executive vice president of worldwide pay-perview and video-on-demand for 20th Century Fox, said studios are focusing more on the VOD space as a major revenue generator. The campaign could continue beyond the initial three-week period if it proves to be successful in delivering strong PPV performances, he said.

“This is a really exciting campaign, and we’re hopeful that it resonates with the consumer,” McCabe said. “It’s good that you have both content partners and operators that are all contributing their time, money and creative energy to try to give the category a nice spotlight as it continues to grow.”

Other titles premiering on VOD during the campaign include The Blind Side, Ninja Assassin, Pirate Radio, Astro Boy, Bandslam, Did You Hear About the Morgans? and The Fourth Kind.

The TV spots will appear in heavy rotation on such broadcast networks as Fox, ABC, CBS and the WB, as well as on cable via such networks as TV Guide Channel, USA Network, A&E and MTV.

Campaign print ads appeared in Entertainment Weekly this week, while online banners will run on movie Web sites Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango, according to campaign officials.

Marcus would not say how many TV spots operators would be required to air as part of the campaign but added that the partnership should give the PPV category a major boost.