Cablevision Grows On-Demand Stable With Two New Services

BY SHIRLEY BRADY Cablevision is sweetening its iO: Interactive Optimum digital cable offering by adding two on-demand services. By next week, its customers will have access to short films from the AtomTelevision library on a VOD basis, while the MSO last week added Cinemax On Demand to iO’s SVOD lineup. Cablevision is the second MSO to add Atom’s cutting-edge short film content for on-demand viewing, following Comcast’s recent Philadelphia VOD rollout. Cablevision’s on-demand programming is available to all iO customers. The MSO features about 700 titles for VOD viewing, five SVOD services and free content such as the video magazines offered on Mag Rack. The MSO will expand its VOD partnerships and content this year, according to Kristin Dolan, VP of digital product management. “iO customers already have access to one of the most robust on-demand offerings available anywhere today, and we intend to continue raising the bar by adding compelling new content in a variety of formats, including new subscription on-demand packages,” said Dolan in a prepared statement. Launching on Cablevision’s VOD lineup is particularly crucial for Atom, which is also gearing up to launch a 24-hour digital cable channel by the third quarter. AtomFilms was primarily known as an online content distributor — with 40 million registered users — before this foray into TV. The new service is offering iO users across Cablevision’s digital footprint access to about 20 hours of original short-form programming. Customers will pay $2.95 to access Atom programming for a 24-hour period. The programming is being offered in five themed collections, such as Academy Shorts, featuring Oscar-nominated or -winning short films and animation. A third MSO for its VOD content will be announced shortly, says AtomTelevision CEO Andrew Tow. Atom is also close to inking a deal for an MSO to offer its exclusive content on broadband, says Tow. With an established brand and robust subscriber base on the Web, Tow says he’s offering MSOs a unique opportunity. “Our 40 million registered users have given us their ZIP codes, so we can geocode based on matching ZIP codes that cable operators provide us,” he says. “We can overlay their ZIPs with our database and then put up a mask on our website, so if somebody signs on and they live in a Comcast ZIP code, a screen will pop up telling that user to check out AtomTelevision on Comcast On Demand.”