Housewives conquer the iPod

Video on demand TV on demand is already
will soon become an important part of media use. Already in
TV stations have launched promising business models in the USA. The major American TV networks
ABC, CBS, NBC as well as the Warner Brothers Network (WB) forge
currently has concrete plans for how it will be able to produce its own programs via
Video on Demand (VOD) to the people. This would allow the
viewers to watch popular series such as "CSI", "Law and
Order" or "Desperate Housewives" at any time. For the
Networks, this would mainly be an attractive source of additional
revenues, as the times of cheap to produce
reality shows are gradually coming to an end. Now the lure of
expensive new series such as "Lost" or "Grey's Anatomy" are
the screen.

The distribution channels are different: CBS relies on
the digital cable of the operator Comcast, NBC to the satellites of
DirecTV. Warner Brothers has just concluded a deal with AOL,
where older TV productions of the film studio are available free of charge under the label
In2TV can be accessed. This includes two minutes
Commercials per program that cannot be skipped.

Advertisers must be careful
The advertising industry sees the new ad-free offerings of the
networks with composure, believing that for them it is only a matter of
a side income. Hans Brechbuehl, Director of the Center for
Digital Strategies at Dartmouth University, however, says: "The
Advertisers need to be careful that new technologies do not take the
Ditching water. Even if video on demand is not their main business
will just be extinguished, the possibilities are limited by this
determined."

Media observers from other sectors take a similar view. In order to
Distribution channels are only marginally involved in the new VOD projects, believes
for example Josh Bernoff, analyst at the media research institute Forrester
Research. "It only plays a minor role that from now on you have consequences
of "Lost" or "Desperate Housewives" on his computer
can download," he says. "What's significant is that this opens a hole in the
traditional business models of the broadcasters."

Outstanding of all the agreements is the deal that the Disney network
ABC with Apple Computer: Both hit shows, "Lost" as
also "Housewives", are available ad-free via the Apple service iTunes for
1.99 dollars and can be used either on the computer or on the computer.
can be viewed on a portable video iPod. The new hit show
"Commander in Chief" will soon be one of them. "In this way
the program schedule is as irrelevant as yesterday's news," says
Bernoff.

The VOD channels from CBS and NBC are to be launched at the start of the next TV season.
will be available in the fall of 2006. The project is to be financed by
ad-free project by charging 99 cents per program. According to
The CBS channel estimates that viewers could on average
hundred call-offs per year, generating additional revenue of five million
dollars would result. "The networks have no choice but to
video on demand," believes Brad Adgate, Vice President of the
research institute Horizon Media. "Viewers now prefer to
to be able to watch television on their own schedule, and the more
the more opportunities there are to do so, the further it will spread."

However, the decisive factor in the implementation of the technology is the
Cost. Although Americans are always ready for new media -
such as broadband service, satellite radio or digital
Hard disk recorder - putting money on the table, but the competition
is large and viewers are price-conscious. For this reason
Some of the major cable operators have decided to use the
VOD programs for free in addition to paid services.
Comcast, for example, the largest cable company in the USA, offers a
Pay-per-view service for feature films costing between three and ten dollars.
per movie, we also offer two free models: Subscription Video
on Demand (SVOD), through which all series on the Showtime channel can be
can be called up without additional costs, and a 750 hour
comprehensive mix of network series and feature films, also
free of charge.

The networks are also willing to provide some of the goods free of charge.
distribute. NBC, for example, has agreed to distribute series such as "Las Vegas", "Monk" and
older "Law & Order" episodes available for Free on Demand (FOD)
to provide. Cable operators such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable provide
are the main distribution channels for VOD in the USA. Comcast states that it
currently records 100 million VOD views per month, at Time Warner
the figure is 75 million.

Other broadcasters have been experimenting for some time with the help of the
Broadband technology with VOD. For example, the
Viacom network UPN also offers popular half-hour series on the Internet, and
Cable channels such as ESPN and MTV are trying out VOD technology with the help of
from streaming videos. "There will be a wide variety of
on-demand options, the one does not exclude the other.
out," says Adgate. In view of the fact that the Americans
now watch 8.5 hours of television a day, there is no evidence
that "the love story with the television" will continue for the foreseeable future.
will end.

VOD has received a worldwide boost over the last few years and will be
according to estimates by the technology research company In-Stat of 13
millions of viewers around the world. In the USA
25 percent of cable households via VOD services. It is expected that
Within five years, VOD has become an integral part of the
media use worldwide.

Gerti Schön