VOD Kills the DVD..!
Sounds rather like one of those old black and white Japanese monster movies with the overdubbed English voices. Ha! Well, let me move on…
Today’s lesson: VOD = Video On Demand. (Also referred to as “pay-per-view”)
You should probably remember this term, as you will be hearing a lot more of it in the coming months and years.
The scenario is this: While relaxing at home you turn on your TV, scroll through a menu and select the Hi-def movie or TV show of your choice. You can rent or buy, for either temporary or permanent storage on your VOD device – something similar to a Tivo box – and will be charged accordingly to your account. No more trips to the video store..!
Sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, there are a few bears in the room, the largest of which is the almighty dollar. It just so happens that the principal revenue generator for the movie studios is the rental and sales of home video. This gives them a great deal of pause when they investigate the effects of a paradigm shift such as disc to VOD. I would say they are being overly cautious, but that’s just me.
Fortunately for us forward thinking consumers, Warner and Comcast ran a test this past year that seems to show the switch can be made without any loss of revenue on their part. In fact, it appears to indicate increases in the purchase of movies as opposed to renting.
How the industry will react to this study is playing out right now, but from my perspective, the VOD camp seems to be gaining momentum. Several industry goliaths are throwing their hats in the ring, including Blockbuster, Netflix, Apple, Microsoft, Comcast and more. There are even some intriguing “Davids” showing up, the most promising of which we think is Vudu – more on them in a future blog.
For now, sit tight and hold on to those couch armrests as this could be a bumpy ride. The good news is that I believe by the end of the year, the future for Hi-definition video viewing will be much more… in focus.
Today’s lesson: VOD = Video On Demand. (Also referred to as “pay-per-view”)
You should probably remember this term, as you will be hearing a lot more of it in the coming months and years.
The scenario is this: While relaxing at home you turn on your TV, scroll through a menu and select the Hi-def movie or TV show of your choice. You can rent or buy, for either temporary or permanent storage on your VOD device – something similar to a Tivo box – and will be charged accordingly to your account. No more trips to the video store..!
Sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, there are a few bears in the room, the largest of which is the almighty dollar. It just so happens that the principal revenue generator for the movie studios is the rental and sales of home video. This gives them a great deal of pause when they investigate the effects of a paradigm shift such as disc to VOD. I would say they are being overly cautious, but that’s just me.
Fortunately for us forward thinking consumers, Warner and Comcast ran a test this past year that seems to show the switch can be made without any loss of revenue on their part. In fact, it appears to indicate increases in the purchase of movies as opposed to renting.
How the industry will react to this study is playing out right now, but from my perspective, the VOD camp seems to be gaining momentum. Several industry goliaths are throwing their hats in the ring, including Blockbuster, Netflix, Apple, Microsoft, Comcast and more. There are even some intriguing “Davids” showing up, the most promising of which we think is Vudu – more on them in a future blog.
For now, sit tight and hold on to those couch armrests as this could be a bumpy ride. The good news is that I believe by the end of the year, the future for Hi-definition video viewing will be much more… in focus.