Starz has announced the VOD release of the Rob Zombie film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, testing a new method in which the company debuts the films via on-demand weeks before it premiers in theaters or on DVD.
The film will cost $6.99 USD however, if customers choose to watch it earlier.
The Starz Media senior VP of digital media, business development and strategy Marc DeBevoise did note however that the new VOD debut was simply a test, and the company was testing the waters for possible future releases.
“It’s the right timeframe,” DeBevoise said, via VB. “It’s a totally different piece of content than you see anywhere else. We felt this was the one to really experiment it on.”
Horror films have, in the past, performed well on VOD.
Result for: timeframe
According to data compiled by research firm DisplaySearch,, global LCD TV sales outsold plasma TV sales by a huge 8-to-1 margin for the Q1 2008 and that gap doesn’t seem to be getting any smaller anytime soon.
Over 21 million LCD TVs were sold during the timeframe compared to a measly 2.8 million plasma sets, says the report.
The total number of TVs sold during the period was 46.1 million, about equal to year-over-year sales for 2007. Overall revenue jumped 8 percent however, to $24.8 billion USD thanks to increasing sales of larger, more expensive LCD and plasma displays.
Aging CRT TVs were still the best selling, with 22.1 million sold, with LCD closely behind at 21.1. Plasma and rear projection televisions brought up the rear with 2.8 million and 134,000 sold respectively. Year over year CRT sales were down 21%, LCD up 45%, plasma up 20% and RPTV down 79%.
In terms of brands, Samsung led in revenue for the 9th straight quarter, with huge 39 percent year over year growth.
Result for: timeframe
Although it has previously disclosed it displeasure with the fact that broadcasters have been making their shows available on the Internet for free, it seems the company is doing an about-face on the matter and is looking to gain market share.
Time Warner has announced that it will be releasing a wireless modem device that “will make streaming internet video content on one’s TV much easier.” The wireless modem will supposedly link all the devices in a person’s home.
There was no timeframe for the device’s release but the company did say it would probably be 15 months or so until it became popular.
Time Warner would have to compete in the steadily growing market for set top boxes, which is now led by Apple and Netflix.
We will keep you updated.
