Verizon Lights Up HD VOD in Five Markets

Mix Of 75 Free, Pay Titles Includes Miniseries From Comcast's FearNet

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 12/5/2007 9:16:00 AM

Verizon is making 75 high-definition video-on-demand titles available to FiOS TV subscribers in five markets, and is prepping the service for entry in three more.

The telco’s HD VOD initially will be available in Richmond and Virginia Beach, Va.; Tampa; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Pittsburgh. Verizon said it will launch the service soon in the Washington, D.C., metro area, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and to remaining FiOS TV markets next year.

The move appears intended to keep pace with Comcast’s HD VOD push, said Leichtman Research Group president Bruce Leichtman. Comcast touts 150 hours of enhanced on-demand content and has said it will offer 800 HD “choices,” combining linear HDTV and VOD, by the end of next year.

Verizon FiOS TV is “in many Comcast markets, and Comcast is doing [HD VOD], so Verizon pretty much has to do this if they want to claim to have a product that’s comparable or superior,” Leichtman said.

Interestingly, part of Verizon's initial HD VOD lineup -- a mix of about 75 titles free programs and pay-per-view movies -- includes the miniseries 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails from Comcast’s FearNet horror-genre on-demand and broadband service.

Movies on FiOS TV’s HD VOD service include Transformers, The Hoax with Richard Gere, Mr. Brooks with Kevin Costner and Demi Moore, and the animated Surf's Up. Free HD titles include music videos from MTV Networks and VOD programming from Wealth TV and Golfweek Magazine.

 By the end of 2008, Verizon expects to offer more than 1,000 HD VOD titles and 150 linear HD channels.

At the end of September, Verizon reported 717,000 FiOS TV customers  in12 states. The service was available to 4.7 million premises, with penetration averaging 15.2% across all markets.