Products / Services

Survey Conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates Concludes Watching Programs on VOD Leads to More Viewing of the Program When it Airs Live

Sherman Oaks, CA, December 6, 2010 - Avail-TVN, the largest digital media services company in North America, today announced the results of a survey measuring consumer behaviors and attitudes toward Video on Demand (VOD). In the survey, conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates, nearly two-thirds of consumers – 63 percent – say that availability of television program episodes on-demand make them more likely to watch those television shows on a regular basis. The data shows that availability of free television programs on demand increases loyalty, helps consumers discover new shows, and actually increases viewing when shows air live.

Nearly 30 percent indicated that they had discovered new shows through on-demand, and now watch them regularly when they air on linear TV. VOD availability also impacts show selection say a quarter of VOD users who report they are more likely to watch shows on television that they know are also available to watch on-demand for free and just over a fifth say they are bigger fans of shows they know they can watch on-demand.

“A lot has been made of consumers’ shifting viewing habits to on demand programming but until now, little was known as to how VOD affected linear viewing,” said Brian Matthews, CMO, Avail-TVN. “This study illustrates VOD’s power as a promotional tool for programmers, an enhancement to their core linear offering, which serves to build audience and brand loyalty.”

Other Findings

• VOD ranks as the top-rated service among consumers who have access to on-demand programming, higher than DVRs and HD channels. Fifty-five percent of respondents rated VOD highest, followed by DVRs at fifty-one percent and HD at forty-nine percent
• Advertisers also benefit from VOD viewing of TV programs. Commercials in free VOD programming are thirty-one percent less likely to be skipped than commercials in recorded programming
• Nearly half of respondents interested in a sport say they are interested in full-length sports events from the previous week being offered On Demand. Interest is much higher for younger males (18 to 34) than older males (35 to 64)

Conclusions
VOD represents an attractive and powerful tool for networks and advertisers to increase viewership of linear television offerings. As fast turnaround of VOD assets becomes more pervasive, and fulfills customer expectations of next-day content availability, this trend should continue to help the market to monetize digital video content.

Methodology
A national sample of approximately 1,700 consumers with access to VOD services from a cable/telco/satellite provider participated in the survey. Respondents ranged in age from 18 – 64 and demographics roughly mirror the US population in age and gender. The study was conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc., a leading research-based strategic consulting firm. Retail prices of 3D movies are generally $1.00 to $2.50 more than HD titles. The number of new release and library VOD movies available in 3D is expected to grow significantly in 2011 as the base of 3D TV sets expands. Avail-TVN is offering operators its 3D Movies Service as part of a complete line of 3D services that will be supplemented with 3D Events and 3D Linear channels in 2011.

Avail-TVN is the largest digital media services company in North America. Working with every major studio and television network, the company offers a full content line-up of MPEG-4 encoded live programming as well as video on demand content in MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 to multichannel video providers throughout the US, Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico. The Avail-TVN platform is an open, advanced technology, offering the most comprehensive, end-to-end solution for licensing, managing, distributing and marketing linear and on-demand content to virtually any platform today and is extensible to support the new services of tomorrow. For more information, please visit avail-tvn.com.