I’ve heard a number of individual operators talk about increases in on-demand video views, but last week Rentrak put out a snapshot report of VOD growth across the industry. According to Rentrak, VOD usage was up 21% in 2008 as compared to 2007.
There’s no higher math required in the VOD adoption equation. More content = more views, and folks within the industry are wise to that truth. Case in point? Around 50% of new-release movies are now available via on-demand at the same time the DVDs hit store shelves. (Comcast claims more than half in Q1) There is also evidence that operators and content providers are willing to give away on-demand content to attract viewers. Showtime has that nifty new interactive app with free teaser episodes of shows available on-demand, and just this month Comcast threw a free-movie VOD “Easter Egg” into its June Movie Collection. Give away free stuff, and people come running.
As far as the future goes, growth projections continue, and not just for the free stuff either. Revenues from VOD transactions already reach into the billions of dollars, and Parks Associates predicts revenue will exceed $11 billion by 2013.
[...] its VOD services to consumers, but both content libraries and subscriber viewing hours have steadily crept up over the last few years. (Consumers like on-demand.) Now in the face of Netflix and Amazon VOD [...]