Rainbow Adds an ‘E’ Before VOD

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.