Comcast recently announced that beginning September 15, the company will offer 100 hours of high-definition video-on-demand (HD VOD) programs on its signature ON DEMAND service. As part of the initiative, Comcast and Starz Entertainment also announced that at least 20 high-definition movies from Starz Entertainment will be available each month. The debut of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on September 15—more than one week before its scheduled airdate on the Starz HD cable channel— will kick off a series of HD VOD premieres on Comcast this fall.
Comcast's HD VOD rollout comes as video-on-demand usage is soaring, with customers viewing more than three billion ON DEMAND programs since 2004. In a recent survey of 200 cable customers with HD service conducted by ICR (International Communications Research) for Comcast, nearly 80 percent of respondents said they prefer to watch high-definition programs on their terms, not when the shows air on a traditional television schedule.
"Customers have clearly expressed their desire for more HD programming, and our fall HD VOD lineup will become the destination for HD movie fans," said Page Thompson, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Video Services for Comcast. "The addition of Starz HD to Comcast's growing HD VOD library and early premieres like The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are helping to transform the HD viewing experience for our customers by giving them more programming on their schedules."
Like DIRECTV's planned preview, Comcast will also be offering a Starz Free Preview from September 15-17 for all of the Starz Entertainment services it offers, including the Starz suite of premium channels, HD, and the newly launched Starz HD ON DEMAND and Encore HD ON DEMAND.
For more information on the HD Initiative, check out the Comcast press release.
