NATPE Panelists Still Figuring Out Video On Demand
Finding The Audience For 'Airwolf', 'A-Team'
By Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 1/29/2008 10:40:00 AM
Though purveyors of video-on-demand believe the product is past the novelty phase as a technology, executives are still learning a lot about consumer expectations for the platform.
Cable offers access to VOD services to 30 to 35 million homes, and millions more can log onto aggregators like Vuze Inc. or the upcoming Hulu, said National Association of Television Programming Executives (NATPE) panelists on the technology at their conference in Las Vegas. But executives are still grappling with widely held expectations that consumers prove wrong. For instance, MGM Studios assumed that a new theatrical would be the top seller when iTunes launched pay movie downloads. Instead it was The Princess Bride, said Jim Packer, co-president of worldwide TV for the producer. Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu, said that result is being replayed during the beta test of his service. The 80s series Airwolf is a Top 30 download, and other old series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The A-Team also have strong audiences.
Another challenge is finding out why some programming categories work and others don’t. Matthew Strauss, senior vice president, new media for Comcast said he thought home improvement would be a strong category on free VOD, since consumers could pause the content. But no one anticipated that instructional programming wouldn’t have the same success as karaoke on VOD, he said.
For premium services like Vongo, the challenge is consumer expectations that, if you’re a pay movie service, you will have every title known to man, said Bill Myers, president and COO, Starz Entertainment LLC. And people want things for free, and his company is a firm believer in the subscription model, he said.
On demand users do seem interested in high-quality video, noted Gilles BianRosa, CEO of Vuze Inc. On his site, 20% of the professional and user-generated content is in high-definition, but represents 50% of downloads, he said.
Navigation tools will impact the success of VOD products going forward, the panelists agreed. Kilar joined his company from Amazon.com, which provides buyers with suggestions for other products they might want. But at Hulu it might be a mistake to push things on users, he said, adding a better strategy is to suggest, not merchandise.
The availability of free VOD has not cannibalized pay-per-view, noted Strauss, stating usage statistics indicate free VOD offers consumers an opportunity to become comfortable with technology. Myers added that Vongo subscription holders actually buy more PPV titles than users who come to the site to buy titles on an ala carte basis.
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