We heard from a couple of people questioning the emphasis in our coverage Tues of Comcast’s VOD deal with CBS. We were enamored that Comcast moved off its free VOD strategy. But CTAM pres Char Beales suggested the broadcasters’ shift in strategy is more important. "Comcast has always said they’d have a mix of free and paid On Demand and in fact have a robust Movies On Demand category," Beales emailed. "It seems more like the broadcast nets made a HUGE shift in their position by offering product OD." A cable programmer viewed the deal as a classic case of programming and operating heavies trying to define the VOD business model. Then there’s Jon Mandel’s take. The chmn of MediaCom (the ad buyer, not Rocco’s outfit) told TV Biz Report that MSOs should charge "99 cents with no ads" or "49 cents with two ads" or "29 cents with four ads. That way you figure out how to maximize your revenue. But to immediately jump to cutting yourself off from 2 revenue streams and leaving advertising out of it I think is either a bad business judgment or…a badly- written press release."

The Daily

Subscribe
Wednesday–July 16

Effros: The Rate of Change

So we’re back where we were with rate of return regulation: an incentive to spend more. There’s just not much rate of change in our regulatory thinking.

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 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.