CMC, Arris Serve 50,000-Plus Cable Subs With 'VOD In A Box'

Comcast Media Centers and Arris announced four more small cable operators have selected their joint VOD In a Box managed video-on-demand solution, which now serves more than 50,000 subscribers nationwide.
The new customers are Cass Cable TV in Virginia, Ill.; Mediastream in Waycross, Ga. (formerly Waycross Cable); Margaretville Telephone Co. (MTC) in Margaretville, N.Y.; and Plantation Cable in Eatonton, Ga.
VOD In a Box, which CMC and Arris originally launched in 2007, is a bundled offering that includes hardware and software -- including Arris servers that reside in a headend -- management services and thousands of hours of standard- and high-definition VOD programming.
The offering is available to cable customers that use CMC's HITS linear programming service. VOD In a Box allows cable systems to accept programming from multiple sources via the CMC's VOD services platform without managing content or equipment at their local headends.
"VOD In a Box is a cost effective solution in terms of both capital and management expenses," Mediastream executive vice president Mike Jury said in a statement. "The lower entry costs made it possible for us to offer our digital customers a service they can't get from satellite or another provider."
Within two months of deploying VOD In a Box, Mediastream's VOD revenue exceeded its pay-per-view revenue even as the PPV revenue remained constant, according to Jury. Mediastream was able to add VOD In a Box while maintaining current staffing levels, while it lowered content management costs by bundling VOD In a Box with the linear channels it receives via HITS Quantum, he added.