We’re not sure whether Comcast’s NY upfront event Fri was a seminal milestone on VOD’s road to mass mediahood. But it’s clear that Comcast is committed to VOD. All services developed in house will premiere immediately on VOD and move to high-speed Internet and mobile distribution. "If you want to launch new concepts, you must do it in a non-linear way," said Comcast programming czar Jeff Shell. "This is the model of the future, and we’re putting our money where our mouth is." Shell already has 6-12 VOD services on his drawing board, with "many more" ahead. That doesn’t include vp Matt Strauss’ "Select On Demand" assortment of content, now at 17 channels. Or the "barrage" of content additions VOD chief/video services svp Page Thompson promises to launch between May and Sept. Comcast expects monthly VOD views to grow from 140mln to 200mln by fall. Look for ABC and Fox to complete VOD deals with Comcast in the next 90-120 days, COO Steve Burke predicted.-CableWorld’s Simon Applebaum

The Daily

Subscribe
Friday–September 5

Football Forecast: NFL-YouTube Experiment a Sign of the Future

Tonight’s the first time an NFL game will exclusively stream live and without a paywall on YouTube, and while it’s expected to attain a hefty number of viewers, the question then becomes whether YouTube—and the networks of internet providers enabling access—can handle the blitz.

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

Sep 11
2025 Faxies Awards Faxies Nominations Open! Final deadline: 4/4/25
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 us at marketing@cynopsis.com, for more information about posting a job on the website and our Jobs newsletter, sent twice weekly to 85,000 media professionals.