Fox To Sell Episodes On VOD Before They Air

from the foxy-lady dept

NBC and CBS said back in November they'd begin selling episodes of some of their shows on video-on-demand services from cable and satellite providers. Fox announced a similar plan with DirecTV today, but with a twist. It will sell episodes of a couple of its shows for 99 cents each for about a week after they air, but it will sell episodes of two shows from its FX network for $2.99 each -- two days before they air. $3 each seems fairly steep, but it's interesting to see the networks tinker around and try to add value in various ways, whether it's removing commercials, adding extra content, formatting episodes for portable devices or now, giving viewers early access. The free alternative will remain attractive to many, if not most, viewers, but there's a balance to be struck somewhere between price and added value for per-episode downloads.
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  1. identicon
    Jabfake, 5 Jan 2006 @ 12:35pm

    ...

    Pirates to air commerical free, HD episode before they air. :p

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Beck, 5 Jan 2006 @ 12:38pm

    Super Bowl

    I'd pay $2.99 to view the Super Bowl two days before it airs. I'll be in Vegas that week.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Griffon, 5 Jan 2006 @ 1:07pm

    No HD no sale

    This low res crap has to stop, no HD no sale.
    -Griffon

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    kingmanor, 5 Jan 2006 @ 1:45pm

    Re: No HD no sale

    Griffon is 100% right. If it were in HD maybe people would consider it. I love some FX shows (The Shield, Nip/Tuck) but not enough to pay $3 per episode, especially when I can DVR it. Watch and see how these episodes will get pirated BEFORE they officially air.

    My cable company Cablevision has hundreds of movies available on demand. but on the HD VOD channel, there's maybe 25. Unacceptable.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Brent, 5 Jan 2006 @ 2:18pm

    Market

    Besides in-show product placement, once the ads go away how will people be marketed to. Thats the real question, the first guy to figure it out wins the pot of gold.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Aaron Friel, 5 Jan 2006 @ 2:41pm

    Re: Market

    Prior to beginning of show and end of show messages, ads, "If you liked this show, you might enjoy this show as well. Would you like to record it?"

    It's not a tough concept. Maybe I should go patent it!

    link to this | view in thread ]


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