Verizon, Redbox Pick Avail-TVN for VOD Movie Services

Avail-TVN has inked two initial customers for its subscription video-on-demand movie service, Verizon Communications’ FiOS and the Redbox Instant by Verizon joint venture between the telco and Coinstar.

The Avail-TVN ViewNow service offers a catalog of thousands of hours of movie content that can be delivered in MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 formats, as well as in a range of adaptive bit-rate (ABR) profiles for such devices as PCs and Apple iOS smartphones and tablets. The service includes download rights on a large number of titles.

Verizon launched the service as part of its Flex View VOD offering in October, with an agreement that includes multiscreen rights in the future. Avail-TVN's agreement with Verizon also includes distribution of the ViewNow titles in the Redbox Instant by Verizon subscription service, which is launching this month on a subscription-only basis and initially will include only movies.

“Today’s consumers have a number of choices for library movie services and we’re pleased to introduce a value-oriented, large library of movies for FiOS families with Avail-TVN’s new ViewNow package,” Terry Denson, vice president of content strategy and acquisition for Verizon, said in a statement.