Cablevision Systems Launches New DVD/VOD Service
Popcorn DVDs On Demand, in Cooperation with Popcorn Home Entertainment, Launches in Metropolitan New York Area
By Anne Becker -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/3/2008 7:01:00 PM
Cablevision Systems is adding a new digital-cable service that sells DVDs through its set-top boxes, offering to consumers as incentive the ability to watch those movies through video-on-demand after purchasing the discs online.
The service, “Popcorn DVDs On Demand,” will sell a limited number of new releases the day they come out on DVD, as well as library films through partnerships with Universal and Warner Bros.
From a company called Popcorn Home Entertainment, it’s launching as a channel on Cablevision’s iO digital-cable service in the metropolitan New York area only. New titles include The Bourne Ultimatum and Eastern Promises and older titles include the Harry Potter movies.
To actually view the movies on TV, consumers must buy the DVDs by inputting credit card and billing information to a Web site on Cablevision’s Optimum Online service. Popcorn processes the orders and the movies then become available on a “Movies On Demand” menu on channel 500 of Cablevision iO. New releases sell for $19.95. Older titles cost $9.95-$15.95.
As they try to set themselves apart from satellite and telco services, cable operators, including Cablevision, have experimented with using their VOD bandwidth for channels other than those linked to linear TV networks, such as video games and limited shopping programs.
