BY ANTHONY CRUPI At last week’s Kagan VOD Summit, Kagan World Media COO and senior analyst Larry Gerbrandt cracked that the first time he heard the expression XOD, he thought it meant adult-on-demand. The X is a variable, of course, one that a lot of players in the on-demand space choose to adapt to their own purposes. Add Rainbow Media Holdings to the list of companies looking to stamp their imprimatur on customer-managed content. Rainbow president and CEO Josh Sapan announced the launch of four new EVOD (exclusive video-on-demand) services at the Kagan Summit, remarking that the company is “jumping into the world of exclusive VOD with both feet.” Sapan acknowledged that some observers might consider Rainbow’s leap “too risky,” but said that a risk is necessary if cable is to keep satellite at bay. “If VOD merely duplicates what is available on linear television, if they offer the exact same lineup available with PVRs, then the cable industry has missed a key opportunity,” Sapan said. Sapan said the services would feature exclusive first-run programming and will be rolled out over the next 18 months. The day after Sapan made his remarks, Starz Encore VP of SVOD Greg DePrez said his company was working on a variant of SVOD for DirecTV customers. The service is being tested on DirecTV customers who own both a DBS receiver and a TiVo box.

The Daily

Subscribe
Tuesday–March 18

Spectrum Reach Introduces New Planning Tool

Charter’s ad sales arm Spectrum Reach underwent a full-market rollout of its newest planning tool called Audience Reach Optimizer.

Read the Full Issue
The Skinny is delivered on Tuesday and focuses on the cable profession. You'll stay in the know on the headlines, topics and special issues you value most. Sign Up

Calendar

Apr 16
Cablefax 100 Awards CFX100 2025 List to be published 4/16/25
May 7
2025 Faxies Awards Faxies Nominations Open! Final deadline: 3/14/25
Full Calendar

Jobs

Seeking an INDUSTRY JOB or hiring for one?
VIEW JOBS

In conjunction with our sister brand, Cynopsis, we are offering hiring managers a deep pool of media-savvy, skilled candidates at a range of experience levels and sectors. The result will be an even more robust industry job board, to help both employers and job seekers.

Contact Carley Ashley, [email protected], for more information about posting a job on the website and our Jobs newsletter, sent twice weekly to 85,000 media professionals.