Comcast to Expand Streaming VOD

Comcast looks to expand the streaming service out to PCs, as long as you’re getting your internet through them too. Dig it:

Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) On Demand Online will move from trial to reality later this year but not as the TV Everywhere wonderland all the hype might lead subscribers to expect: the streaming on demand will be limited to some cable shows and movies, access will be limited to in-home computers—and, at first, access will be possible only through Comcast’s own ISP, barring anyone who does not pay Comcast for video and broadband. But, as promised, the actual service will be free to cable subscribers; access will bethrough Comcast.net or the company;s video portal Fancast.

Sounds pretty weak. If you’re a Comcast subscriber, read the full story at PaidContent – Comcast Will Expand Streaming On Demand This Year; Not Quite TV Everywhere.

Comcast Loosens Rental Periods for VOD Content

This summer, VOD rentals on Comcast On-Demand will now be good for two days rather than 24 hours. Dig it:

Warner Bros., Walt Disney Studios, Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment will begin offering films on demand through Comcast foran extended two-day viewing period at no extra charge this summer, the cable company announced Tuesday. Until now, consumers who purchased films on VOD through cable have had to watch them within 24 hours before they time out.

What studios will offer for an extended period will vary greatly. Warner is calling the move a test, while Disney plans to permanently extend the viewing period for its releases to 48 hours.

Warner will offer the extended 48-hour viewing period for all of its high definition June VOD releases on Comcast, including Tuesday release He’s Just Not That Into You and upcoming releases Gran Torino, The Cell 2, Friday the 13^th and Inkheart. Those releases all debut on VOD simultaneous with their DVD release.

Warner will also offer those releases with the extended viewing period through Verizon, a spokesman said. However, standard definition VOD rentals of Warner films and download rentals through iTunes, Amazon Video on Demand and other cable and Internet services will continue to be viewable for 24 hours.

Full story over at VidBiz.

TV Everywhere is Coming from Time Warner

Multimedia giant Time Warner is still kicking the TV Everywhere idea around, though it seems like they haven’t quite figured out what to do with it yet. They’re now planning to do some trails of the service to see if it floats. Check it out:

Time Warner Inc. chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes said that the media giant is currently in discussions with several distributors regarding its “TV Everywhere” concept and that trials of the service could begin in the second half of the year.

Bewkes, speaking on Time Warner’s first-quarter earnings call wouldn’t identify which operators the company is talking to or when the trials would specifically begin. But Bewkes has been a big proponent of “TV Everywhere” concept, which would allow subscribers to cable, telco and satellite TV service the ability to access programming they have already paid for through their subscriptions on multiple platforms, including online and via mobile devices.

Already Time Warner has launched HBO Go, an online version of its HBO service, with about 650 hours of programming – three times the amount available on HBO On Demand – in Time Warner Cable’s Green Bay, Wis. system. These trials would include Time Warner content other than HBO, including some from its Turner Broadcasting System and could possibly include programming from other providers, said Time Warner spokesman Keith Cocozza.

Turns out not everybody is crazy with the idea, probably because there’s already an overwhelming amount of choices for VOD services and the technology and ideas are still very young. 

On the conference call, Bewkes wondered why every distributor doesn’t support the concept, adding that they already have the billing systems in place and provide service to roughly 90% of the television homes in the country. All it would require is the deployment of some type of authentication software to verify that an online viewer is a subscriber.

“The system is simple, it doesn’t present any blocks for consumers and it is clearly in the interests of all cable multichannel networks and all video providers,” Bewkes said. “The outliers seem to be the broadcast networks, which are clearly in a different position and have different problems.”

The notion of the content being your bargaining chip, rather than a channel or traditional disc-based product, is a very welcome one indeed. Let’s hope TV Everywhere debuts in one form or another. Thanks to Multichannel.

New French Website Tracks VOD TV Shows

A website by the name of http://www.tvarevoir.fr/ has launched in France, aiming to list all TV broadcasts that are also available online (VOD) and free. The site’s name means “TV to watch again” and features over 12,000 programs so far. If you’re French, you should check it out. Here’s some more info:

On this occasion, NPA Conseil and www.tvarevoir.fr developed a catch-up TV indicator. The fist study measures the proportion of programs broadcast between March 15 and 21, 2009 that were made available online and on demand by national TV channels . It shows that national channels (TF1, France 2, France 3, Canal+, France 5, M6 & Arte) offer more than half of their hour volume broadcast during major audience hours (17:00 to 24:00) on catch-up TV services. Entertainment, information and magazines (especially those on access prime-time) are the main programs available. Prime-time programs (films and TV series) are seldom available, as they are often proposed for rentals. 

Big thanks to VOD France for the tip. Full article here.